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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday May 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 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 Vague motion We find it unsettling that a motion that could ultimately have Halton Catholic District School Board trustees acting as censors could be approved with so little background information offered publicly. Last week's motion introduced by Burlington trustee Joanne Matters calls for staff to draft a policy, "Allowing for trustee approval of surveys and pilot projects, which are morally-sensitive or controversial in nature, conducted under the auspices of the Halton Catholic District School Board." While Matters believes trustees should be aware of student surveys and pilot projects before they're initiated, some around the board table -- including one student trustee -- voiced concern about how her motion would be put into practice. Specifically, Matters was asked who would be deciding which surveys are examined and who would determine what constitutes morally-sensitive or controversial content in a survey. The trustee offered no specific examples of controversial surveys a new board policy might guard against, offering, "that's something that can be addressed in the policy that will be developed by our staff." We don't envy those board staff burdened with the responsibility of hammering out the details of a policy that Matters herself isn't prepared to put into context. What we do know is that some parents complained to the board and the media following a recent Halton Youth Survey distributed by Our Kids Network. The voluntary survey asked direct questions such as whether students had ever contemplated suicide or used tobacco, drugs or alcohol. Unfortunately, a letter sent home to parents in advance of the survey's distribution didn't provide detailed examples of what kind of questions would be asked. Still, is it the questions students are being asked or their potential answers that Matters is most worried about? While drug use and thoughts of suicide among our young people are disturbing, ignoring their existence won't make the problem go away. Censoring these surveys will not put the lid back on Pandora's box. It may, however, negatively skew invaluable data that helps providers of important health and social services for youth determine where the greatest needs exist in Halton. 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 The Minor Oaks Hockey Association commends and supports the Town's acquisition of the Twin Rinks facility. Contrary to Chris Stoate's letter -- Town purchase of Dominion Twin Rinks ill advised, Oakville Beaver, May 4 -- our association (MOHA) has not received one cent of Town subsidy for any of the private ice that we need to contract each year (approximately 50 hours per week) at significantly higher rates, to support our participants ­ provided there is any available. In fact, Mr. Stoate was a member of the Council that on several occasions chose not to provide any support or sub- Twin Rinks purchase is a good deal for Oakville minor hockey sidy to MOHA for private ice, despite the admitted shortage of Town facilities, as well as the delays in bringing Glen Abbey's second pad on line. The incremental cost of this private ice has been a significant ongoing expense to our members and we are looking forward to gaining more ice hours at better rates with the addition of this facility to the Town's ice inventory. On assessing the pros and cons of this acquisition, you should consider that: · The Town has secured a much needed, first class facility for between a third and a half of what it would cost to build. · The facility is available now, not several years down the road. · Twin Rinks, as a Town facility, does provide more ice for Oakville since as a private facility this ice was available to anyone, not necessarily Oakville groups ­ minor sports or adult. · The Town has not announced its policy as yet with respect to the complete use and allocation of ice at this facility and is in fact working with the user groups to try to develop a "fair" approach to this "windfall" opportunity. · Outdoor rinks are not a practical or viable option for extensive organized sport use, given both our challenging climate/season, and the supporting infrastructure that would be needed from an operational and safety perspective. While opinion letters are a great place for rhetoric and election posturing, it would be nice to see factual information and a balanced viewpoint. WAYNE MOOREHEAD MINOR OAKS HOCKEY ASSOCIATION Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com 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.