The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 4, 2008 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 DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager Three cheers for Oakville By the time this editorial is read, the semi final game between Canada and the United States in World Junior Hockey Championships will be history. But regardless of that outcome, Oakville's three members on the Canadian squad -- goaltender Steve Mason, and forwards John Tavares and Stefan Legein -- have done us proud. To have three players from one community on the team is pretty amazing; to have three players who have played major roles in Canada's gold-medal quest in the tournament is phenomenal. For the record, Tavares, one of the most highly-touted juniors in the world, has recorded four goals for Canada in the tournament, Legein has one goal and Mason has backstopped Canada to two wins and was scheduled to start in the semi final game against the Americans. This year's tournament is the first world junior competition for all three players. For Tavares and Mason, this tournament's early success is especially sweet following the disappointment of being left off last year's team. Tavares, who is just 17 years old now, was a late cut from last year's squad, and Mason was bypassed after suffering a concussion just before training camp started. Legein wasn't even invited last year, but has steadily improved his game over the past year. In June, he was selected in the second round of the NHL draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets and was named to the Canadian team that dominated Russia in the Super Series last fall. All three appear headed towards promising careers in the NHL. Mason was also drafted by Columbus in the third round, and Tavares, who isn't eligible for the NHL draft until 2009, is expected to be the first pick overall. But for now, their eyes are clearly set on winning gold for Canada in the World Junior Championships. So, if you haven't done so yet, tune into the games and enjoy not only cheering on Canada, but three lads from Oakville who are making the world take notice. 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 Mayor's response to GO parking complaint was unsatisfactory I am responding to the article Bronte GO commuters will have to grin and park it, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 2. I am a regular early morning user of the Bronte GO Station parking lot. I have already complained about the illegal and dangerous parking to GO Transit and my local councillors, without any success or action being taken. I would like to congratulate Laura Sheremeta and Ruth Wright for complaining as well. Illegal parking narrows the exit laneways and creates a danger to drivers and pedestrians alike. It is shocking that Oakville Mayor Rob Burton stated, in response to a request that illegally parked cars be ticketed and towed: "They (GO Transit) are not going to do it and they're not going to hire Halton police to do it." Why on earth not? It is shameful that this mayor refuses to do anything about this dangerous situation and actually encourages people to be scofflaws by confirming illegal and dangerous parking will not be punished. If it's resources Burton is worried about, I suggest that GO Transit will make more money ticketing illegally and dangerously parked cars at Bronte than they will checking on free riders. If the mayor won't use his position on the GO Transit Authority Board to push for corrective action, he should resign and make way for someone who will. NICOLAS W. R. BURBIDGE Mayor responds Editor's note: Mayor Rob Burton responded to Nicolas Burbidge's letter and forwarded the following reply to The Oakville Beaver. We contacted the mayor informing him of our desire to print his reply and he gave his consent. I'm sorry you're claiming to be so shocked, but any shock you're feeling must be highly manufactured: there are very clear jurisdictional issues that leave neither GO board members nor mayors in a position to play parking lot enforcer, and I thought the story in The Beaver did a fine job of making that clear, including the answer to your rhetorical question as to why GO can't spend more on parking lot enforcing: GO doesn't have the resources because they've been directed by Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com See Province 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.