6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ed ne sd ay, F e b ru a ry 12, 2003 EDITIIIllilLS AMI LETTERS the omville beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Miuuiger JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager KELLY M ONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director RO D JERRED Managing Editor THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: cW * U I j IA*tt*Tw-yrJ M H O t t f ldftM P g . AD o M b u t t O lid r c k jd n A fu lv k rt'n jN o w tM xtU x* .A k a t o n ktu f r t t r p r c s e E tirmC h a n c eB u ry * W n * . B o lt o nfn k fp to eB r a m p t o nG u a r d v i P « * . h rtx *nS f t r p m Q N r v r titfy-vnt u s r^ .x V /W rjp i C tfw c to i EtfM liW r fm Wrafctaitr R c U e s f t o f c t o a f c eG u a r d * ' d yta o u g f' Po tO o r ^ r t o w n n H JB tttrA V to nF « m P r w sH tm n tr umi ftis r « s sT r r r a ,K * X J& t o "T T w V * < Kinto* T taW M . W s M a m fc o rw iw liS iii M *ftrd f*n (rg u e n ra U m M ilt o nO ift tflu nO ia m jio n M e a u n a a u r juU u n n m nlr m » ,M c k c & x o iM e C u r t *f i.iw im w t e t / A u f O » » fi»B a r w w if t o r t D u r b e r t a n d f * iv nto tfi> * j r V M u r a . Ijk v d eB a r * >O a M t oSvanj H tm iVftwi t * o c k t > yN e w t 0*1 T o d a y Q tM M d 'y iM b y O ir n Q t o nP e r !P e r r yT h isW e e * .Q * * n Sam T rtu v .P a r r w ajnQ ta n w .P W H t c r a u t f in * j A * v * .F « a nC a n yG o O efkfrtnjM .Vrrtt.'.'ajf* (C u n t. S u tx n u jri M r ^ » Sb^AUtM gi V tu* F o r tv t f« x raC B yC r fY t r tliu n Jiy i Recognized for Excellence by t-- ^ Ontario Community Newspapers Association i ^ i J i 1i.tlton Hcalthcarc r .H i. YMCA ( C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association SK« o ^O TTiP TV AUCTION Suburban Newspapers of America Urte6W<f 0lO >W Uk« k Qvvmi o 7* © Qakvith w tnH itU hs w eust> *$$ex«ueN C * W l 1X O M h lf c ·V A O O N .S = s& ff v frmrt |oakvllle galleries | T T » IM c na n d 0 e * n c l Jin&e BetFund a w / W M m ti.lm k I'M ( T M X O t n t « m '{ f c g g f ttl kterUM J/W xjv ^yhtvrJ HHUl LIR R A X Y Even the playing field Oakville Councillor Je ff Knoll is bang on when he suggests Halton Region should re-consider its earlier decision to butt out of the smoking bylaw issue. To expect smokers, non-smokers and businesses to adjust to a differ ent set of rules each time they cross a municipality's city limits is ridicu lous. It also shows an unwillingness by regional council to lake the bull by the horns in the name of public health. One smoking bylaw covering the entire region would send a message that Halton takes this health issue seriously enough to take a stand. Just because federal and provin cial politicians have lacked the intestinal fortitude to create smoking regulations to govern bars, taverns and restaurants throughout Canada or at least the province, it doesn't mean the region shouldn't. We wonder, however, if Knoll's words are too little too late. Before Oakville enacted its cur rent smoking bylaw, there was an opportunity for Halton to lead by example. Sadly, councillors opted to make each municipality decide for itself. Oakville responded by enacting a complete ban on smoking in restau rants and bars, while Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills each took a more phased-in approach. Today, depending on the time of day and where in the region you happen to be sitting, smokers are free to light up in some bars and not at all in others. This approach fails to protect the health of Halton residents equally and really doesn't provide a level playing field for business. On so many other health-related fronts, the region has made the effort to lead rather than follow the exam ple of others. W hy not with smok ing? Regional Chair Joyce Savoline frequently speaks about the quality and safety of Halton's water supply; the region's health department appears to be leading the way in monitoring the spread of West Nile Virus; the region also recently demonstrated its concern for the welfare of homeless youths and atrisk young people by hosting the Truth About Youth forum in hopes of improving access to programs that could be helping them. On the topic of smoking. Dr. Bob Nosal, the region's Medical Officer of Health, has insisted a 100 per cent ban is long overdue and the only way to go. We have to hope councillors will heed his wise words the second time around. LETTERS Til THE EDITOR Pro-life advertisement `empowers' women by providing information I am surprised that ihe loiter from Lorraine Quasi (the Beaver. Jan. 29 ) angrily attacking a pro-life ad rated Letter of (he Week status. It would have been highly irresponsible of you not to run an advertisement that empowers women by giving them information that they have a right to know. Unfortunately, Ms. Quast's letter is rife with " incorrect and inflammatory statements." Even those of us who are not members of any pro-life organization have to wonder what would possess a person to write such a vitriolic letter based on what they " imagine" the beliefs of the members to be. If you don't know, why not call them and ask? Would that have been so hard? Ms. Quast's statements remind me of the aggressive suppression of the results of the first studies that showed a link between smoking and lung cancer. Plenty of people swore up and down for years that the purported link was a lie -- but it wasn't. In fact, at least 27 studies show a link between abortion and increased risk of breast cancer, a link more statistically significant than the link between second hand smoke and lung cancer. The increased occurrence of negative after effects from abortion versus live births is also well documented. But Ms. Quasi thinks that anyone who brings these things to light should be ashamed. I wonder if some day in the future we'll be ashamed because we spoke about these things, or ashamed because we refused to. Should we say shame on Halton ProLife, or shame on well-known cancer organizations that betray the public tnist by refusing to acknowledge that abortion is a risk factor? As the father of three. I have a moral responsibility to help my children make informed decisions about anything that involves possible risk, whether that is having a body part pierced, getting a tat too. riding a motorcycle, having sex or ignoring dental hygiene. To knowingly withhold pertinent information would be negligent on my part. So what is to be gained from object ing to the publication of a few health facts? To do so is to contribute to a conspir acy of silence predicated on the myth that we can somehow " empower" women by keeping them ignorant. When my daughters make decisions, they have a right to all the facts. Ms. Quast. I'm sorry that you don't feel the same way. S e w a g e p la n t p la n s a c o n c e rn As a resident of Glen Abbey. I am very concerned about the proposal to increase the size of the sewage plant. I know that at the present time, there are huge tanker trucks rumbling up and down Third Line all day long. I have observed them coming up Third Line towards Hwy. 5 at 10 p.m. These tankers are heavier, and louder than the builder's trucks, transporting dirt. I thought that such vehicular traffic was supposed to be on Hwy. 25. where there is no residential housing? I have never undersuxxJ why Oakville allowed the planning and development of its communities in such a way as to have a roadway like Third Line running straight through the middle of it's residential neighbourhoods. Since the builders completed construction of the homes above Upper Middle Road, traffic has increased unbelievably. 'ITiis is caus ing a huge amount of air and noise pollution in the middle of a community full of homes with young and growing families. Now the Town wants to build a larger sewage plant. Those tankers will be rumbling up and down Third Line night and day. creating the kind of noise that will require peo ple to keep their windows closed, and take away the pleasure of sitting in backyards during the summer months. We certainly won't be a bedroom community; it will sound more like we are living in an industrial community. No doubt, it will smell like one. loo. O f course, once the Town has allowed the land north of Hwy. 5 to be developed for more residential homes, and businesses are allowed lo develop their community up there as well, the traffic, with its box trucks, vans, and transports making deliveries day and evening, w ill create a huge level of noise and air pollution on Third Line and 1Iwy. 5. Add to this a sewage plant that will be increasing in size several times over the next 20 years. The odour and whatev er contaminants the plant will be producing, will be another addition to the soupy air we are already breathing. All this, with a residential community in its midst. 1 think it would be prudent lo have the deadline for the response lo the public works department extended 120 days so that this pressing issue can be dealt with adequately. LETTER OF THE WEEK P la n is in `o p p o s itio n to v is io n ' The following letter, addressed to Mayor Ann Mulvale, Oakville Town Council urul Peter Cheatley o f the Planning Department, was submitted to the Beaver for publication. Trafalgar-Chartwell Residents' Association (TCRA) has considered the proposed development by the Daniels Group for the current Sharkey's restaurant location and joins with other neighbouring residents' associations (Lakeside. West Harbour. West River) in opposing the proposal as presented. In particular, we have the following concerns: ·This proposal is a radical departure from the Official Plan. In spite of the current smart growth vogue, and notwithstand ing our general support for the principles of smart growth, TC RA feels that the Official Plan has been developed and revised over time, and should not be subject lo piecemeal ad hoc amendments which might set damaging precedents and reduce the protection that it offers. ·Current area residents have relied on the Official Plan, with respect to general direction for the vision of the community they have chosen, and this proposal, if accepted, would repre sent a major breach of their trust in the process. · The proposal would seem to be entirely at odds with Oakville's desire to protect natural environmental features. Most importantly, we are very concerned by the extent to which this proposal has been given sufficient consideration by Town planning staff that the developer has taken it to this stage. It is very clearly in opposition to any vision for Oakville which has been accepted by the community and its elected represen tatives. It is entirely inappropriate to maintaining the quality of life of the surrounding neighbourhoods and the much cherished nature of south Oakville as a town with a village atmosphere. This character is equally cherished, we would suggest, by resi dents of the area and by those who have chosen to live in north Oakville but regularly visit and bring their friends to the lake, harbours, and downtown that we all prize. That a proposal so diametrically different from our vision should reach this stage implies that the developer has been given some glimmer of hope by planning staff. This would suggest that planning staff, perhaps in their zeal to jump on the smart growth bandwagon, are entirely out of step with the community which employs them. This development would take Oakville's lake surroundings in the direction of Port Credit or Burlington, clearly a choice rejected by our Official Plan. TC RA feels sure that Oakville's residents would strongly oppose becoming the GTA's next North York. Smart growth to TCRA means growth which supports or enhances our quality of life. We find the fact that this proposal has been entertained at all very worrying. It affects our confi dence in the stewardship of our town by the planning staff. We urge you to ensure that the staff report confirm Oakville's com mitment to its character and to due process with respect to any significant alteration to the Official Plan, and oppose the cur rent proposal in no uncertain terms. ADRIAN RATELLE JOLENE WILLACY Halton Women's Place grateful for support of its Holiday Hamper Program On behalf of Halton Women's Place. I would like to thank the community for tine generous sup port of the Holiday Hamper Program. Through your generous support, approximately 150 fami lies (more than 4(X) women and children) received hampers. Late last October, we started asking the community to support our neediest families. These women and chil dren have left their abusive homes and are desperately trying to start over on their own. Budgeting becomes a big factor in their day to day living and the ability for moms to provide gifts and extras for their children is just not possible. Through the generosi ty of the community, these women were able to provide their children with gifts that would otherwise be unattainable. With the support of schools, companies, service clubs. churches and individuals, we were able to provide quality hampers filled with gifts and goodies for women and their dependent chil dren. Surplus stuffed animals will be offered to every child staying at the shelter this upcoming year and our birthday cupboards are well stocked to help make a child's " spe cial" day as enjoyable as possible under the circumstances. I would also like to extend a personal thank you to all the volunteers who assisted Halton Women's Place with picking up donations, sorting, packing and wrapping gifts. On behalf of the hundreds of women and children that pass through our doors on an annual basis we thank you for your support of our programs and services. Cheryl Taylor Halton W omen's Place Campaign D irector Pud I L t> U R E AS S W E E T AS - HONEY... PLEASE 'BEE MY V A L E N T IN E /' M A * H ELPED CHOOSE THECARDS FoR TOE S IR US )* )fH " i By STEVE NEASE TRAFALGAR-CHARTWELL RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION CHRIS STOATE PRESIDENT 'd b a t t l e s a u r o n , D A R K LORD O F MORDOR We welcome your letters The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considera tions and grammar. In order to be published, letters must con tain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers, Road, Oakville, On., 1.6K 3S4. or via email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any let ter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council ts located at 80 Gould St., Suite Toronto. Ont.. M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that. In the event ot a typographical error, that portion of adver tising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline IN !^ I S CLASS... 206.