w w w .insideH A LT O N .com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, M a rch 2 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 6 Editorial Senseless tragedy Oakville, and Halton, are among the safest communities in Canada -- each year we hear this from our local law en forcement officials -- yet we are not immune to violence, crime, and tragedy just as our community is not without poverty, mental health challenges, hunger and more. In recent weeks, residents have been learning of numer ous deaths in our community In early March, a call from a citizen brought police, then the homicide unit, to a luxury condo on Lakeshore Road West. A week later, we learned An gela Skorulski, 56, had lost her life after being shot in her condo minium apartment. W ho shot her? Why? How did this happen? All questions still unanswered. In fact, very little is known about Skorulski' s death. Police released her photo, but few other details. Last week, Oakville resident Ferdinand Mejilla (Dr. Fred), who operated a chiropractic of fice in neighbouring Burling ton, died at his clinic of gunshot wounds. His alleged killer, Burl ington resident David William son, 44, died last weekend of a self-inflicted gunshot wound sustained during the chiropractic office shooting. We do not know what happened. Two weeks ago, Mississauga' s Yusuf Ghanam, 23, went to work at a construction site in Oakville and did not return home. Ontar io' s Ministry of Labour is investi gating the apparent collapse of a wall in relation to his death. Three people died locally this month who fiad no reason to die Yusuf Ghanam -- senseless tragedy in our com munity. Recently, this space looked at the ongoing fight against human trafficking, another blight on public safety and hu man dignity that is reportedly a significant issue locally. What can we do? Lots. We can be vigilant for our friends, neighbours and families. We can use the many lo cal resources that exist to help in all types of struggles. We can push for change for the better at the political lev el. We can keep eyes and ears open through our daily lives, to do our part in keeping our community, people, safe. And remember, most often it' s the community that helps solve crime... that' s the success story of Crime Stoppers. Tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222 8477 (TIPS), through the web at wwwhaltoncrimestoppers.ca, or by texting "Tip201" with a message to 274637 (crimes). 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, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackbum@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. "C o n n e c t e d t o y o u r C o m m u n i t y " The Beaver. 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classified Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 55 | Number 23 The Oakville Beaver is a division of ·* m e tro la n d m e d ia * * Connected to your community0 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. NEIL OLIVER Vice -President and Group Publisher of Metroland West KELLY MONTAGUE Regional General Manager DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Letter to the Editor Lets get going Canada on helping refugees Canada has a long and proud tradition of ac tively welcoming refugees from other nations, reflecting the proud sense of our role in a world where many live with danger and need. Can we still hold up our heads up with pride? Are we really living up to that tradition? Our experience -- two passionately commit ted churches in Oakville -- with the refugee process makes us wonder. Our first experience went really well; with only a week of advance notice we welcomed a United Nations-identifed refugee family, and supported them so well that they are now established and new Canadians living in our community. Not so much, the other two fami lies we have committed ourselves to sponsor. Both these families are Iraqi and have fl ed their homes due to the turmoil and dan gers caused by ISIS. Both these families are `trapped' in refugee settlements in Turkey. While here in Canada, as sponsors, we are ready to go with the full range of needed sup port: accommodations, jobs and personal support. Despite that, our applications seem to sit unattended to; one fi led in November 2015, the second in the fall of 2016. Despite repeat emails, pleas and even meeting with our local MP there has been absolutely no di rect contact by our government to move the im migration process along for either family. This is disappointing in view of our government's promise to clear the backlog by this year. Meanwhile, we regularly read that there are many refugees illegally entering our country from the USA. So here we are, as law abiding citizens with refugees sitting in Turkish refugee camps following the proper legal channels, and nothing happens. This is neither fair nor right. It seems our government is not process ing the applicants trying to legally come to our see Refugees on p.7 CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager O A K V ILLE ^ e Beaver. Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Lo c e Media a Proud Official Media Sponsor For: O n ta rio Press C o u n c il JL V>f Defending principles to inspire public trust The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error-, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for-, but the balance of the advertise ment will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud bySteve Nease N e w LEGO® Make &Take · Star Wars · Minecraft · Pokemon 905-825-9994 - 461 N. Service Rd. W Oakville S P E O a E S flR T S T U D I0 .C O M