in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 23 ,2 02 0 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised family of newspapers is comprised f of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca insidehalton@metroland.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeavfacebook.com/OakvilleBeavf @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Director of Production Mark Dills Regional Production Manager Manny Garcia Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane CONTACT US Oakville Beaver 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 905-845-3824 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Advertising: 289-293-0620 Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. Letters to the editor Send letters to insidehalton@metroland.com. All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at insidehalton.com OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM Here's a political safety alert for Premier Doug Ford. The emergency warning system in Ontario just suffered a serious breakdown and his government needs to fix it pronto. Millions of Ontarians will vouch for the need for urgent action. They're the ones who received the rudest of rude awakenings early Sunday morning Jan. 12 when a screeching blast from their cellphones informed them of an "incident" at the Pickering Nuclear Gen- erating Station. Before being told nearly two hours later it was all a bad mistake and that there had been no "incident" of any kind, widespread concern, confusion and even fear swept across southern Ontario.fear swept across southern Ontario.f Despite being told from the start that "there has been NO abnormal release of radioactivity from the station," people were left wondering if they'd been told the full story and what might really be happen- ing. One family in Toronto booked a hotel in Niagara Falls and got ready to flee. And given memories of the nuclear disasters at Chornobyl, Ukraine, in 1986 and Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, who can say they overreacted? This is one of the world's biggest nuclear power stations located close to Canada's biggest city. The apology from the provincial government for what it calls "human error" behind the original text message is appropriate. But Ford's Progressive Con- servatives will be judged by how well they keep their promise to ensure nothing like this happens again. The mistake was made by the Provincial Emer- gency Operations Centre during a routine training exercise. But how did a message meant to be sent to an internal list go out to the general population? Why did it take the emergency operations centre nearly two hours to send out its correction? After all, Ontario Power Generation had tweeted the message that nothing was amiss at Pickering more than an hour before that correction. But that didn't reach millions of people still fretting over the first alert.first alert.f Even more to the point, why hasn't the Ontario government - either the current PC regime or their Liberal predecessors - already dealt with the known problems in the alert system? In 2017, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said pro- vincial emergency management systems need better oversight and co-ordination. Specifically, she found that the province lacks a co-ordinated information technology system for emergency management. The Liberal government knew this and spent $7.5 million over six years trying to set up such a system before discontinuing the project in 2015. If the Ford government needed a reason to take up this task, the screw-up surrounding the Pickering nuclear station gives them a big one. One of the worst consequences of the blunder is that people could lose confidence in the emergency alert system altogether. RESTORE PUBLIC TRUST IN EMERGENCY ALERTS ANIMAL TALES A black squirrel displays his agility in an Oakville backyard. Got a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Benjamin Lavieu photo A new year - time of re- newal, celebration and reflection. This year especially, following an election, butfollowing an election, butf also the end of a decade, gives us all a chance to re- flect on the past, appreci-flect on the past, appreci-f ate the present and look towards the future. I'm grateful for the support I have received in this riding and the confi- dence placed in me to con- tinue to represent you in Ottawa. I am incredibly proud of what we were able to accomplish throughout our last man- date, not only for Oakville North-Burlington, but for Canada. I'm excited to work to- gether as parliamentari- ans to build an economy that leaves no one behind, take decisive action on climate change, make life more affordable, contin- ue down the road to rec- onciliation and ensure that the health and safety of Canadians remains our No. 1 priority. I am also humbled to accept the appointment by the prime minister to serve as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services, and I look forward to working towards recon- ciliation with Indigenous peoples. Our country experi- enced a profound loss on Jan. 8 when 176 people lost their lives on Ukrai- nian Airlines Flight 752 that crashed in Iran. This was a tragedy that should never have occurred. Our government is focused on the families and we will not rest until there is jus- tice and accountability. Halton held a memori- al vigil in Oakville on Jan. 12 where the community came together to grieve. We gathered to share ourWe gathered to share ourW pain and draw strength from each other as we re-from each other as we re-f membered and honoured those who were tragically taken. As we begin the new year, let us hold close those we love, be kind to each other and be grate- ful that we are living inful that we are living inf the best community in the best country in the world. Pam Damoff is the member of parliament for Oakville North-Burling- ton. Her office is located at 2525 Old Bronte Rd., Suite 590, Oakville. Tel: 905-847- 4043 Website: MPDamoff- .ca Email: pam.da- moff@parl.gc.ca. NEW YEAR BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES EDITORIAL APPOINTMENT TO INDIGENOUS SERVICES MINISTRY AN HONOUR, WRITES PAM DAMOFF PAM DAMOFF Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM