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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday August 25, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com 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 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 Heating up local politics The addition of Ward 6 Regional/Town councillor Janice Wright as a candidate for mayor adds a new twist to the November municipal election. Until Wright's announcement Tuesday, it looked like the mayor's race would be a rerun between incumbent Ann Mulvale and local businessman Rob Burton, who squared off three years ago. In that memorable contest, Mulvale won by 25 votes following a highly publicized recount. Now Wright has entered her name into the mix. Wright's entry is the first time any sitting member of council has challenged Mulvale since 1988 when she defeated the incumbent mayor, Bill Perras. In recent past elections, Mulvale was either acclaimed or challenged by a candidate with no previous experience on council. The next election could prove to be the most exciting since the 1986 contest when Perras was elected mayor over Oakville councillors Carol Gooding, Jackie Cutmore and Mulvale. Wright's entry now has local political pundits wondering whether she will draw support from Mulvale's camp or from Burton's supporters. Will she draw enough from both to win? Only time will tell, but with the start of the official municipal election campaign just a little more than a month away, her announcement definitely adds interest to the mayor's race. We hope this will translate into more voter interest both during the election campaign and on election day, Nov. 13. If that happens, The Town of Oakville will end up as the ultimate winner. LETTERS TO THE 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 Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Will electoral reform be democratically decided? Re: Oakville woman joins Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, Oakville Beaver, Aug. 18 I am impressed that the Ontario Liberal Government has initiated this historic process. If another electoral system is recommended by the citizen's assembly, Ontarians will be given the chance to vote "yes" or "no" for this new electoral system via a referendum process within this government's mandate (i.e. by October 2007). The question is whether the referendum process will be democratic? A critical decision as to what the threshold will be on this referendum has yet to be announced. In the article, Kevin Flynn was quoted as saying, "We believe that the shape of Ontario's democracy is a matter for Ontarians to decide." I totally agree with him, but believe that Ontarians deserve a fair referendum on fair voting. In a similar referendum in B.C., the B.C. Government stated that electoral reform would only be automatic if 60 per cent voted in favour and 60 per cent of the ridings indicated majority BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com support for the proposal. The results of this referendum was nearly 58 per cent of voters voted "yes" for electoral reform, yet it was defeated. Every legislature in Canada operates by the democratic standard of majority rule -- 50 per cent plus one, but the B.C. government cast aside the democratic process and said if citizen's are voting on a new electoral system, that the bar has to be raised to 60 per cent. The irony is that the B.C. government was returned to power with 46 per cent of the votes, but electoral reform was defeated with 58 per cent of the vote. Seems like a double standard to me. The Premier of New Brunswick has announced that in a similar future referendum for their province, they will be using a 50 per cent threshold. I hope the Ontario government too completes this historic democratic process with a democratic referendum (50 per cent plus 1). BRONWEN BRUCH 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 advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud