A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ed ne sd ay, M a y 7, 2003 E D ITO R IA LS m ) LETTER S THIS U tk lH M I I E M 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 Manager JILL DAVIS lulitor in Chief MARK DILLS Pmduction Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director ROD JERRED Managing lulitor M e C rc u mRnrq P u O W v gA(Mbffy L Mn.Ute ^V iV kM nigS e v .rj^Vntur. A ife tc nHnUCam U T U tntw re* firm .B am aA dttx* B arry » T N t /***. B cfer inapt* B rjirpter G uirour Sutn;tsi P o tt K/tngtr ^cctmj fm Of P arw t Cartoon L a>* i%M c ro r (mWoath'xuir, ftjtfoi tXtxcM G u ard o n . 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S c i t m q f i fa iM W taA QO f)o fW G u rd u N i THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspaper* Association ii I ialton Healthcare tr i ItRONtC ( fit >i I Ki i > TBSBSr neUr for ino jc r m x m c r @ :n a Canadian Community Newspapers Association 4 & 4 > rrf^ TV AU C TIO N YM C A | o a k v lH e g a lle r ie s | ^ vr v L ,'.* o nr *, Jin ge B e tFund A iiit/m /im h /»* i7»r.vsr«4r*« . T t o ^ `« rV F F 7 * iiiii SK Suburban Newspapers of America 7 S iv i" JH tm l.J7khcm MJ'touni q iid O V ^ * * (%h'ilh fO RB U S IN E S SE X C U IiN C J n wfTl tn o * ^ . « v « 0 i« III ",,L «*«ri «o»»d ^ . / / r~. / (7 6 * 6 /f n u { . . . . . . E I a ,r>- . . H 0*lto,ljtU a c-- so ~ " '/W T teh*W» was Lingering effects of SARS Kudos! Congratulations! A big pat on the back for a jo b well done! However you want to put it. the folks in Toronto have done an out standing jo b luring visitors back to the Big Sm oke after the World Health Organization lifted its travel advisory last w'eek. From cheap gas prices to $ 1 tickets for a Blue Jays gam e to an unbeliev able package deal dream ed up by David Mirvish. Toronto has pulled out all the creative stops in its bid to get the econom y back on track. Even beleaguered Air C anada has offered incredibly low air fares to Toronto. The Web site o f the airline's discount carrier. Tango, was report edly swam ped with four m illion hits in the first hour after posting a oncein-a-lifetime deal. M irvish announced that he would be extending his rock-bottom priced theatre ticket, hotel and meal deal until July. It seem s he had placed ads in weekend new spapers without con sidering the fact the tickets -- some 45.(XX) o f them -- would be sold out in less than three days. Now' that's a successful promotion. O f course there were other dis counts to be had and Toronto resi dents and visitors were treated royal ly just for showing up. But Toronto knows it is going to take far more than cheap fuel and discounts to recover from the heavy losses causcd by the fear o f S evere A cute Respiratory Syndrom e. This deadly virus lingers more w ays than one. H alton residents need to be rem inded that it w asn't only Toronto that took an econom ic and em otional hit from SARS. Lcx'al businesses are also reeling from the effects o f this outbreak. In Oakville, an event decorating com pa ny was forced to term inate 16 em ployees after conferences were cancelled. A nother com pany, which creates custom -m ade ice sculptures and centre pieces, mostly for corpo rate functions, has lost $150,000 in business over the past four weeks. Hotels, Ux). are feeling the pinch. "Everyone loses out in this case. W ithout visitors to the city, restau rants. taxis and retailers suffer," explained Frank Vismeg, m anaging director o f the Holiday Inn Express and C onvention Centre. And lie's right. Now it is o ur turn to shop, entertain and dine locally. Treat that som eone special to a night or tw o aw ay at an area hotel. Spend som e m oney in our tine restaurants. If you are looking for an off-sitc location to conduct business, d o n 't look far afield. Halton has so m uch to offer and we need to do everything we can to support busi nesses right here, right now. r Course t h e PRIME MINISTER IS SERIOUS ABOUT IMPROVING THE FEDERAL SARS of A 1 P package / IN FACT*/ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ontario Municipal Board `not perfect, but far from being broken/ says reader The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is fine the way it is. It's not perfect, but it is far from being broken and it is con siderably more effective the way it is than it would he if the GTA Task Force report recommenda tions were to be implemented. The OMB seems to favour developers because provincial law and provincial policy encour ages land development. It has been that way through out the reign of past Conservative. Liberal and NDP governments and none of them has had any desire to change it. Why? It is simply because land development supports population growth mid feeds our economy. Without it. our fundamental stan dard of living would be decimat ed. Preventing land development would be financial suicide. I would love to see a more sustainable economic model, one that didn't require the develop ment of our beautiful country side. On the other hand, until we design a viable alternative; until and unless someone comes up with a radically new and improved economic model, I pre fer land development to the total collapse of our economy. Until and unless we are pre pared to radically change the way we live, land development will be a necessary fact of life. The truth be known, many elected officials would be much happier if none of their decisions could be appealed. Little Napoleons. That their decisions may be illegal or would cause long-term economic or environmental harm often doesn't seem to be of much concern to them when they arc looking for short-term votes. Kevin Flynn and other mem bers of Town council who voted against OPA 198 are the most vocal opponents of the OMB process. O f course, even with the changes to the OMB that are being proposed, OPA 198 would be before it. or before the courts. The developers, who appealed the Town's failure to comply with the Regional Plan to the OMB, were actually a portrait of restraint. They waited very patiently for many months before giving up on Town council. Let's not forget that the Town's own staff recommended that council pass OPA 198 and advised that passing OPA 198 was required by law in order for the Town to comply with changes to the Halton Regional Plan; changes that I understand Kevin Flynn himself previously voted for as a regional councillor. In spite o f months and months of debate and filibustering, and in spite of every attempt by Town staff to amend OPA 198 to cater to the whims o f every dog-andpony show that pontificated before council, while still being faithful to the regional plan and the law, councillors still voted against OPA 198. That in spite of being warned by the Town's own legal staff that failure to pass OPA 198 would mean that the Town would once again lose all control over the planning process. And they arc to be congratu lated? It seems to me that millions of our tax dollars are being shame lessly wasted only so that petty politicians can grandstand. And I don't believe for a moment that their intentions are genuine. Unfortunately, I am probably wasting my words and a whole gaggle of voters are likely to fall for the gimmick, like vot ers have since the dawn of mankind, like lemmings rushing towards the abyss. If it were not for the OMB. the only alternative would be the courts, unless we are to be denied any legal rights of appeal at all. It's a politician's dream, but our worst nightmare. Anyone who has gone to court knows that it is frightfully expen sive and that judges are topped to hear cases on an eclectic mix of subjects and to make rulings on issues that they are hard pressed to understand. At least the OMB only deals with one subject so there is a bet ter chance that the OMB's adjudi cators will make rational informed decisions. If the OMB errs, let's not for get that even now its decisions may be appealed to the courts. So what's the real issue? I think that it is all about power and about buying votes in the upcoming municipal and provincial elections. DAVID BAZAR IDTER O F THE W EEK Flynn, Elgar receive high praise for West Nile meeting I wish to take this opportunity to express my thanks to our local council lors Kevin Flynn and Alan Elgar for their foresight in arranging a recent meeting at Knox Presbyterian Church. The meeting was set up to provide data to the citizens at large on the situa tion with regard to. and control of, the West Nile virus. The calling o f this information session indicated the stan dard o f leadership that we are entitled to expect from our elected representatives, and which these two councillors so admirably demonstrated. The issues were clearly explained but, more importantly, we were advised as to the precautions we, as citizens, could and should take to protect our families and our neighbours. These pre cautions include: eliminating the stag nant water necessary for the breeding cycle o f the mosquito host: protecting ourselves against the bite o f insects and insisting that a proper examination by the Town of its property and storm water systems is undertaken this spring, with follow up surveys during the com ing year. Presumably council will follow the lead o f councillors Flynn and Elgar, and ensure all citizens are made aware of the danger, and the possible serious conse quences o f infection, while indicating that the measures to be taken by each and every one o f us to reduce the risk are simple but effective. Congratulations to Kevin and Alan on this excellent effective presentation! A H. MCCALLDM The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council Is located at 8 0 Gould S t, Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M 7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condi tion that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of adver tising space occupied by the erroneous Item, together with a reason able allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The pub lisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or dedine. Destruction of woodlot has nothing to do with OPA 198: landowners Re: Destruction of trees. The many articles in the local newspapers about the recent destruction of a mature woodlot might have left readers with the perception, and misconception, that this activity had something to do with OPA 198 and development in north Oakville (i.e. lands south of Hwy. 407.) Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, this woodlot was located almost entirely in Milton (i.e. lands north of Hwy. 407). beyond the boundary of the Town of Oakv ille, and well outside the limit of OPA 198 in an area that is not intended for future urban development. The fact that most of the woodlot is located in Milton outside of the OPA 198 area cannot justify this destruction. It is important to note that no activity of this nature has occurred in the OPA 198 area. There is absolutely no connection between this unwarranted destruction and the planning of lands in north Oakville. The landowners comprising North Oakville Management Inc. have always conducted themselves with the highest level of professionalism throughout the OPA 198 process and were equally dismayed and shocked at the devastation of this w<x>dloi. In fact, they have undertaken a detailed environmentallybased subwatershed study to identify natural heritage features worthy o f preservation in north Oakv ille. North Oakville Management Inc. encourages the Region of Halton, Town o f Milton and Town of Oakville to address this matter to the full extent of the law in order to send a strong mes sage to any other landowners contemplating similar activity. In short, our members live by the rules, and we expect other landowners to do likewise. In conclusion, the members of North Oakville Management Inc. wish to assure residents of Oakville that we will continue to work cooperatively with all sUikeholders to ensure the preserva tion of high quality woodlands in the OPA 198 area as a funda mental principle of the development of this new community. LYNDA i. TOWNSEND RENAUD NORTH OAKVILLE MANAGEMENT INC. Universal education essence of society This letter is with reference to the Eves' government's pro posal to reduce that portion of property taxes for seniors which relates to public education. I have been retired now for a number of years, but do not. in any way. resent paying taxes for the purposes of education. 1am disappointed and surprised that no other letters (or articles) on this issue have appeared. Gcxxl universal education is the essence of every society. Similarly, the Eves' government's proposal to re-instate the tax abatement for parents of children in private schools. One way or another this bids fair to a further reduction in necessary financing for the public system. People have every right to send their children to religious and other private schools, some o f their reasons are laudable and engender considerable financial sacrifice. However, so be it. we all give up something for what we deem to be worthwhile rea sons. The government has no right whatsoever to decide which of these reasons earns its approval. COURTENAY STOATE The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be publislied. letters must contain the name, address and phone number o f the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville. On.. L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor® oakvillelieaver.com. Hie Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any letter. Pud 03 By STEVE NEASE - HOW COME THERE S NO PICTURES OF BOYS ON TH IS BOX O F a ^ S I R L - G U Y 3 J a p c o o k ie s ? .