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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 26, 2006 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 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: IAN OLIVER Publisher WEBSITE Oakvillebeaver.com NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Manager TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, Caledon Enterprise, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Glass half empty or half full? While the opponents of the Palm Place Developments proposal for the former Shell House property in southwest Oakville aren't happy with the Ontario Municipal Board Decision (OMB) last week, we don't believe the news is entirely bad. While the board did reject the Town of Oakville's preferred choice of 27 low-density units on the property, the OMB didn't grant the developer's original request for 370 units. In fact, the OMB decision sets up several possible scenarios, which could be negotiated between the town and the developer. The board has set a time limit of 90 days for the town and developer to reach an agreement or it will dismiss the complaint. The first scenario has Palm Place accepting the decision and proceeding with construction of 300 units in three buildings on the west half of the property and hand over the eastern half to the town or Conservation Halton -- after it has completed an environmental cleanup. So although a high-density condominium would be built on the west side, the town would receive a waterfront park at no cost to taxpayers. However, if the developer decides it cannot make an acceptable return on its investment with 300 units -- instead of 370 -- and after paying for the clean up costs, then it can negotiate a settlement for the entire property with the town. During the hearing it was revealed the developer's asking price for the property was deemed excessive by the town. Now, however, the developer may be reasonable with its asking price because the town has the other option of expropriating the property at fair market value. In both cases the town would have to come up with several millions of dollars to purchase the property and pay for the environmental cleanup costs. Lastly, if the two parties cannot reach an agreement in 90 days, the OMB will dismiss the case and it will be back to the drawing board. Under this scenario, the developer would have to submit a new application to the town. This would be time consuming and occur under the new OMB legislation introduced by the Liberal government last year, which puts more weight on the planning process at the local level. If this happens, the developers might find it more difficult to come through with a proposal greater than the town's desired 27 lowdensity, residential units. Over the next three months, we will see which of these scenarios plays out, but as we said earlier, the OMB decision is not necessarily the disaster some people believe it to be. 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 Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR South Korean free trade agreement will not benefit Ontario's economy Halt! Who goes there? Tree afraid. Tree afraid who? Tree afraid of free trade with South Korea. Canada's top export to Korea is wood pulp and Korea's top export to Canada is finished motor vehicles. In 2005, Korea shipped to Canada 130,000 assembled vehicles. We shipped them 400. It takes 60,000 pounds of wood pulp to pay for each vehicle we import from Korea. It takes two acres of clear cut forest to equal one vehicle. We really won't be able to see the forest for the trees. The trees will be gone. The existing trade deficit of $40 billion dollars with South Korea is on a fast track to increase even further with Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushing for a new trade deal that he hopes to complete by mid-2006. The current bi-lateral trade agreement has already destroyed 15,000 good Canadian jobs. The impact the new trade deal will have on our province is not in our benefit. The auto industry directly employs more Ontarians than any other manufacturing sector, and accounts for 38 per cent of the province's exports. As a crucial source of high-technology investment and productivity growth, the industry boosts our economic performance. The benefits of the industry are felt throughout the province through supplier links, consumer spending and taxes. The auto industry supports services that everyone depends on such as healthcare, education and social services. In 2005, auto workers paid $1.7 billion in federal and provincial income tax. Auto workers' fundraising efforts also directly support community organizations such as the United Way, food banks and women's shelters. Also, most auto workers own homes. Based on average property tax rates, auto workers supported $269 million in municipal taxes in 2005 (or $738,000 a day), helping to pay for local services. Stephen Harper is trying to negotiate a deal with South Korea that would eliminate tariffs from both sides. So, what will happen when Korea eliminates its tariff on our vehicles? Nothing. Removing our six-per-cent tariff on vehicle imports from South Korea will further boost South Korea's already surging sales in Canada. There is no significant Canadian economic sector that actively supports this deal. Many have spoken out against it, with the auto industry leading the way. The Canadian Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com See CAW page 8 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. 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