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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 9, 2007 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: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS A DIVISION OF Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Victimizing the victims Throwing money at a problem to make it go away is a favourite tactic of governments. However, we're hoping the McGuinty Liberals aren't using this strategy to clean up the mess that has become the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Ontario Ombudsman André Marin last week unveiled his scathing report on the board, calling it a "colossal failure" that has embraced a "rule-obsessed, paper-shuffling culture." Victims of crime have been treated with "bureaucratic indifference and suspicion." Established in 1971 by the provincial government in an effort to help provide financial compensation to victims of violent crime, Marin concluded the board has become awash in so much red tape that half of the applicants eventually give up their claims out of frustration. The board takes an average of three years to process applications while similar boards in Québec and British Columbia take only two and three months respectively. Marin found that forms from victims have been returned for such mundane reasons as forgetting to dot an "i" in a name. By this October there will be a backlog of more than 17,500 cases. Unbelievable. Marin puts the blame solely on Queen's Park, saying the board is a $40million operation being run on a $20million budget. Attorney-General Michael Bryant was quick to vow immediate action on Marin's report and ponied up nearly $21 million within two days of the report's release. He also appointed Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry to make recommendations on how to revamp the board. However, it should be noted that Bryant's ministry was fully aware of the board's problems as a 2005 e-mail from his ministry said: "The ministry may be vulnerable to criticism...should what we have learned about the (board's) current status and practices get out." Well, the government's "dirty little secret" (as Marin described it) is out. We're hoping this problem doesn't get put on the back burner now that some money has been thrown its way. The provincial government needs to starts helping victims of crime instead of victimizing them again. 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 I was saddened to read the article about the proposed Lakeshore Woods development, (Apartment plan upsets Lakeshore Woods residents, Oakville Beaver, March 7) but not by the prospect of more lost green space. What saddened me was Sheila Barry's characterization of this proposed development as "some low-incomey sort of stuff." I sincerely hope that this kind of attitude that judges and stereotypes people Saddened by comment by their material wealth does not permeate throughout Oakville's citizenry. Heaven forbid that we have these lowincomey sorts of people walking our streets, shopping in our stores, attending our schools, and contributing to the richness and diversity of our community. The only low-incomey sorts of people some want in their neighbourhood are the ones that scrub their toilets and take care of their kids. Such a shame! OSTAP DMYTRIW I was a man with a gun Re: Oakville MP Bonnie Brown's guest column Command and control versus open consultation, Oakville Beaver, Feb. 24. I was a "man with a gun." As a young officer in the British Army I served with 25 Armoured Brigade in Benghazi, and in the occupation army in Berlin. Then, men, and in those days it was mainly men, had guns, first to defeat the Nazis, then to contain the very real threat from Stalin in the east. Now, the threat is from international terrorists, and brave dedicated young women, with guns, stand shoulder to shoulder with young men ready to take care of us. As someone who has also held a commission in the Canadian Army for more than 52 years, Bonnie Brown has let me, and arguably all other soldiers past and present, down with her naive illinformed attitude. But then she is protected, so why should she be at all concerned. MICHAEL ABRAHAMS Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Drive-throughs should be banned Why does a community with a severely-degraded airshed; committed to becoming the most liveable in Canada, tolerate drive-throughs? Drive-throughs are the very antithesis of best environmental practices. Surely, with polluted air a major health problem; with vehicle emissions a major contributor to deteriorating air quality, the socially and environmentally responsible course of action is for council to ban future drive-throughs, and insist those in operation close within one year. No exceptions. See Leadership 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. 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.