in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 11 ,2 01 8 | 14 Patients who visit CannaWay Clinic are often seeking relief from chronic pain, sleep disorders or mental health issues. Our team of medical experts will guide you through a simple process that will help you take charge of your health. Book your free consultation at cannawayclinic.com 1235 Trafalgar Road, Unit 314, Oakville, ON 1•833•842 •8383 Excellence in Care euthanasia, or embryonic stem cell research." The policy is cur- rently on hold but expected to re- surface at the board this month. Incumbents Anthony Quinn and Helena Karabela support the policy. Candidate Peter DeRosa, who spent his career in public audit- ing and banking, wasted no time getting to the point. He used his opening statement to rail against current trustees, while explain- ing why he decided to run. "The (fundraising) ban, oath of allegiance, restricting HPV vaccination in our schools ... The list goes on and on but I only have four minutes. These policies ...four minutes. These policies ...f divide our community and make Catholic education more vulner- able to those who would seek its demise." Responding to a question about how to retain and attract students - and the suggestion that many parents considered leaving the board over the past year - Nancy Guzzo suggested the board could do well by listen- ing to the students. "We need to do better in talk- ing about all the wonderful things we do," said Guzzo, whose work background in is health care and labour relations. "We need to do better at letting every- one know, and stay out of the neg- ative spotlight. That doesn't help us. Support our teachers to do the best and be the best." Jeff Mamer, who works in marketing, suggested there were many ways the board could be better communicating with par- ents. "In any organization, commu- nication is always identified as an area of improvement," said Mamer, who has been chair of his local school council for several years. "At school council, we tried to communicate through the newsletter, our website, and by being at all the events. It's also about listening to constituents and asking, 'How do you want to receive your information?' " Chris Saunders, a longtime manager with the Canadian Rev- enue Agency and Ministry of Fi- nance, said his focus would be on meeting constituents in person and getting to understand their issues. "I'm going to get out there," he said. "When you get somebody who cares, that's going to make the difference. I'll have office hours if they want to come talk to me. I'll make maximum effort to be 'boots on the ground.' There's no magic here: showing you care, being involved, listening and do something with it." Giuseppe Peritore, who ar- rived at the event late after at- tending a funeral visitation, said he would make sure to take the community's input into account even if it conflicted with his per- sonal values. "You do check in your (opin- ions) at the door when you be- come elected," said Peritore, who has run for the position in the past and works in information technology. The panel discussion was moderated by Keith Boyd, presi- dent of the Halton division of the Ontario English Catholic Teach- ers Association (OECTA) at the secondary school level. The or- ganization ruffled feathers among the candidates who did not attend - Quinn, Karabela and Ante Skoko - when it released a letter endorsing DeRosa, Guzzo and Mamer on Sept. 18. In the letter, OECTA encour- aged its members to support a slate of "moderate" candidates, issuing recommendations for all regions of the board. DeRosa, Guzzo and Mamer are also using shared election signs that dis- play all of their names. This year, the town will elect three trustees to the board, after a Local Planning Appeal Tribu- nal (LPAT) ruling that took away one Oakville trustee and added one to Milton. Two of the town's four current Catholic trustees,four current Catholic trustees,f Anthony Danko and Paul Marai, are not running for reelection. "This is an important election because of the dysfunctional na- ture of our current school board trustees," states the letter. "Let's take right-wing, American polit- ical ideology out of our class- rooms!" The letter slams the current board for alleged fiscal misman- agement, rolling out French im- mersion without enough teach- ers, the daily recitation of the Oath of Citizenship and the Sanctity of Life policy. In an email sent to debate or- ganizers on Wednesday, Oct. 3, Quinn said he would not attend due to OECTA's endorsement. "As the Halton OECTA Unit has already selected, endorsed and is actively promoting their pre- ferred slate of candidates, priorferred slate of candidates, priorf to hearing from the entire field of candidates at your meetings, I am declining to participate in what can only be described as a partisan event." Ante Skoko told the Beaver on Tuesday, Oct. 2 that he would not attend for a similar reason, de- scribing the letter as "quite de- rogatory for those not holding the 'moderate' values of the union. "The board of trustees is not meant to be an extension of the union," he said. "The union's de- cision to promote and actively campaign for their candidates is suspect with their undisclosed connections." Karabela, who is also dealing with the recent death of her fa- ther, said that even though she had other affairs to deal with that night, she was still very dis- appointed in OECTA. "I was shocked when I found out about the contents of the letter of endorse- ment," she wrote in an email. "The derog- atory language and accusations in this letter ... is unprece- dented. I do not be- lieve this to be a true all candidates meet- ing." Boyd said Thurs- day that the local OECTA chapter has often en- dorsed election candidates, and that this time around, the group "took a much more organized ap- proach with this election as we felt the majority of the currentfelt the majority of the currentf group of trustees needed replac- ing." OECTA ENCOURAGES MEMBERSHIP TO SUPPORT 'MODERATE' CANDIDATES NEWS THE ISSUE: CATHOLIC TRUSTEE CANDIDATES WEIGH IN ON ISSUES AFFECTING EDUCATION THE IMPACT: RESIDENTS HEAD TO THE POLLS OCT. 22 TO ELECT THREE CATHOLIC TRUSTEES IN OAKVILLE HERE'S WHERE THE TRUSTEE CANDIDATES STAND ON ISSUES, AS DISCUSSED AT THE OCT. 4 DEBATE: . Sanctity of Life motion Saunders: Would remove reference to "indirectly" supporting the charities to allow for support of hospitals and similar organizations. Mamer, Guzzo, DeRosa: Would revert to former policy. . Would you support better sharing of health and safety risk information between work sites? Everyone: Yes. Do you support the 2015 sex-ed curriculum? Saunders: "The curriculum was forced on people and led to resentment. Too much too early." Peritore: Doesn't feel there was enough consultation on the last curriculum. Looking forward to the new government's proposals. DeRosa: In favour of the 2015 version. "I familiarized myself with it and I don't see a major problem. We live in a different world today than 1998 .. We should teach them how to deal with realities of the day." Guzzo: "We really aren't as impacted as everyone thinks we are. Our health curriculum is produced through the Institute of Catholic Educators. It's not even close to what everyone's putting out there." Mamer: "I'm in favour of educating and protecting our children so they can make the best decisions for themselves and those they welcome into their lives." In favour of "educating them with all the appropriate information they need to make good decisions in today's world." . HPV vaccine in schools Peritore: No. DeRosa: Yes. Guzzo: Yes. Mamer: Yes. Saunders: No. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association held a trustee debate at Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School Oct. 4. Continued from page 3