6- The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday N ovem ber 1, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS T h e O a k v ille B e a v e r 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 905-337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: THE O AKVIUE BEAVER IS PROUD O fT K lA L MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: | o « l> v lll» g « ll« n n [ Recognized tor Excellence by A ocna N ow papers A ssociation (likon I Inblwrt \ ATHENA CO O A K V illE C'M/Yi/kS j VIA \yAO O N « j/ ' i wfrtvmn SK S u bu rban N ew spapm o <A m erica m *3 NEIL OLIVER Publisher ip I VM CA Canadan CJiarrpon, Mttcn Shoppng News. Missssaiga Business Times. Mtsstssauga News. N jpaiw Guide. Newnaftot/Auora Era-Banner NortTiurrtwrtand News. North 'fork Mrror, OakvUe Beawr. O akm Shopping Hews. OkMnws Hockey News. Ortta Today. Q & u m W M rfiX tn ja ) Pori Bony Tha Week Owen Sand Tribuno, Palmerston Observer Raertxxoutfi The Week. Ptcton County Glide. R*2imond HUV'ThomhUyVaughaP U w al. Sowtjornugn Mrror. StajIMfieAhtirdge Tribune, Forever 'foung. CkyafYMcGuardan T h e Oakvfllo, M ilto n THE OAKVILLE BEAVER ISA DIVISION OF METROLAND MEDIA GROUP WEST GROUP PUBLISHER IAN OLIVER JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief RODJERRED Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI /'holography Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA /Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director o fDistribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Mettuiond Printing PuMtsWng & Distributing Ltd nduflss Ajax-Pckertng News Adamsei. Ahston HenfcVCouwr, Aimi# Entwprtsn Hm&, Bane Advance Branptan Guardon, Burtngton Posi. Burlington ^lcppng Nows. Caledon ErtBcprtee. Qly Parent, Cotllngwoort-Waaaga Connection, East Ytorti Mirror, Em Advocato/Gourtry Routes, Etobcoko Guarden, FTontoorouyh Beytew. Georgetown ndapendent/Aclon free Press. Mamston Bevtew, Huonta Bianass Times. Uncteay The Wee*. MarVftnm EconomM & Sun. Mdtand/Penctengwsbmo Minor Milton Our choice for regional chair Choices. On Nov. 13 Halton residents have m ul tiple decisions to make about who will represent their interests in local and regional government for the next four years. Among them is the choice of who will replace Joyce Savoline as chair of region al council. With a population approaching 500,000, Halton Region faces the same growth-related issues as each of its m unicipalities (Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills). While the Region's responsibilities are very different than those at Town Hall, they are essential to maintaining and improving the quality of life enjoyed by every Halton resident Our regional government administers everything from waste (collection and recycling) and emergency medical servic es (ambulance) to Ontario Works (social assistance) and regional roads (including highway responsibilities that once were the Province's domain). As we see it, the role of regional chair is to help each of the four municipal gov ernm ents reach a consensus on what's good for Halton. On Election Day, Halton residents have four candidates from which to choose Savoline's successor. In our opinion, there is only one clear choice for the job. Candidate Robert Plaschka of Burlington lacks political experience and has lived in Halton for the shortest time among the four candidates (nine years). While we don't doubt his desire to make a real difference in regional govern ment, we wonder if a run at a city/region al councillor seat might have been a more appropriate choice this time around. Brian Burton has been active on com mittees in Oakville and at the regional level and credits his experience opposing Oakville's OPA 198 development plan for fueling his interest in politics. Next m onth's election will mark Burton's second run at the regional chair's seat. In 2003, he finished a distant second to Savoline. We believe he, too, needs to get his feet wet as a councillor before making the leap to chair. While it could be argued that Gary Carr has the strongest name recognition among the four, we wonder if his run for regional chair has more to do with losing his Halton MP seat to Garth Turner last January than a real desire to lead Halton. Having previously spent 13 years as Oakville's MPP -- including a four-year stint as Speaker of the House -- Carr is no political neophyte. However, we seri ously question whether his candidacy is anything more than a desperate attempt to jum pstart a stalled political career. Brent Marshall is a lifelong Halton res ident who has worked 36 years for Halton Region, including the last eight as its Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). To the chair' s position the 56-year-old would bring an intimate working knowl edge of where Halton Region has been and the long and difficult road that lies ahead of it. While Marshall lacks political experi ence his last eight years as the Region' s most senior employee have required a keen understanding of the political process at the local, provincial and feder al levels. He has worked side by side with Savoline and members of regional coun cil to achieve made-in-Halton solutions to unique challenges the Region faces. Frankly, we find him to be the logical choice. We suspect some Halton residents -- including some at this newspaper -- will disagree with us. That's the great thing about democracy -- everyone is entitled to voice their opinion. We sincerely hope every eligible Halton voter exercises the right to be heard on Nov. 13. LETTERS TO TH E EDITOR The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com The Beam reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Please save Coronation Park Although it might seem foolhardy to take the advice of a 17-year-old former resident who cur rently resides in Washington, D.C. (but Oakville will always be my home), I am saddened and dis mayed to find out that the fruit market will be replaced. I lived in the neighbourhood, and it is unique unto itself. From the traditional Waterfront Festival, to the winter wonderland it becomes every year -- Coronation Park is som ething special. To have an influx of so many people will detract from the natural beauty and splendour that makes up Coronation Park. Thus, I implore every Oakville citizen to do what they can to prevent this building project. Not only for themselves, but for future genera tions. In closing, I would like to say that we, as a society, are too focused on money and not upon the natural beauty that surrounds us. FOREVER AN OAKVILLE CITIZEN, AMIR KAZIM Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Mulvale clarification Re: Oakville Beaver Election Supplement, O ct 25 Ann Mulvale's re-election campaign committee would like to clarify that Ann has 23 three years in total of municipal council experience, five as regional councilor and 18 as mayor. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. PAT ATKINSON COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The coundl is located at 80 Gould St, Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the concStion that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the enoneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged for, but the balance of the adver tisement will be paid for at the applicable rale. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertise ments or decline.