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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday April 13, 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 IAN OLIVER Group Publisher 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 MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Walking towards a cure Going for a leisurely walk is something most of us take for granted. It's as natural as waking up, getting dressed and strolling down the hall and into the kitchen for breakfast. These same routine activities can become insurmountable tasks for anyone stricken with multiple sclerosis. In its advanced stages, MS is known to rob people of their sight and mobility. An estimated one in 500 Canadians has MS -- Canada has one of the highest rates of the neurological disease in the world -- and another 1,000 cases are diagnosed in our country each year. It is a mysterious and unpredictable disease that most often strikes people in the prime of life, but has been known to occur at any age, including childhood. Women are three times as likely to fall prey to MS than men. While there is no cure for it, medical research is ongoing -- as are efforts to provide support services for those fighting the disease, and their families. On Sunday (April 15) each of us has an opportunity to do our part by simply taking a walk. Oakville's Super Cities Walk for MS offers participants of all ages and fitness levels the choice of a 5 or 10 kilometre route. If you're not already registered for the 9:30 a.m. walk starting from Oaklands Regional Centre on Bond Street, you can sign up online (wwwsupercitieswalk. com) or by showing up between 8:30-9 a.m. on walk day. On the day of the walk, anyone submitting more than $125 in pledges will be eligible for gifts. Approximately 72 cents from every dollar raised by the fundraiser is equally divided between MS Society client services and research. By doing something we already do every day of our lives, the MS Society of Canada strives to finally find a cure. 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 Halton councillors are playing GTA pooling shell game In 1998 the Province of Ontario began a program known as GTA Pooling. GTA regional municipalities became tax collectors for the Province and sent the money on to Toronto where it was used for Toronto's welfare and social programs. The Halton pooling budget for 2007 is $41 million or $182 per Halton household. Halton Region Councillors have complained that GTA Pooling is not fair to Halton taxpayers. They claimed that social programs should not be funded from municipal taxes. They also claimed that Halton taxpayers should not be sending municipal taxes out of the Region. The councillors were right. Now the Province has agreed to phase out GTA Pooling and those same councillors are trying to avoid returning the money to taxpayers. The Region would like to "return the money in increased services" ­ whether we want them or not, whether we can afford them or not! It appears that the campaign to end GTA Pooling was just another tax grab by our ever-expanding Region. It is not the Region's money. Never was. They only collected it for the Province to give to Toronto. If there is any integrity in Region Council, they will return all freed-up pooling funds to Halton taxpayers. Tell your regional councillors that you want your money back. GARY ELLIS `Keep up the good work' I would like to let you know that my husband and I enjoy the Oakville Beaver immensely. It takes a great person to apologize and you did it (The Beaver, March 28). We have been subscribers for 40 years and our son was a carrier in 1969 at the age of nine. Steve Nease's cartoons are fantastic and so is his Pud strip. Our two children have been several times on the front page as they are both born on Feb. 29 ­ 1960 and 1964. Riziero Vertolli came to the house to take the pictures. The Beaver pays for itself in this house, because I do my grocery shopping from the sales in the flyers. Keep up the good work. WILLY VANDERSTEEN 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 BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com