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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 11, 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 Where were they? Kudos to Oakville Catholic School trustees Alice Anne LeMay (Board Chair) and Ed Viana for attending Wednesday night's Oakville Catholic Secondary Schools boundary review meeting. About the only thing more volatile than a boundary review meeting is one dealing with school closures. The meeting was held at St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School and was packed by more than 200 parents -- many of them angry at one point in the meeting. Noticeably absent from the meeting were the rest of the Halton Catholic District School Board trustees, particularly Oakville's other two trustees Anthony Danko and Pauline Houlahan. Admittedly, the school trustees are in an unenviable position. When they render their decision on the boundary review on Feb. 19, the trustees will not be able to keep everyone happy. The boundary review has split Catholic parents essentially into two groups -- those in the south, who want St. Thomas Aquinas rebuilt, and those in the north, who don't want their kids bused south across the highway to boost Aquinas' population. We don't see a simple solution. The board cannot abandon its south Oakville constituents by closing the school and it can't keep teaching students in the dilapidated St. Thomas facility. Currently, the board is struggling to find enough money and funding to rebuild St. Thomas Aquinas, so rebuilding that school and a northern school at the same time is simply not an option. In all likelihood, some students will have to be bused south to the new St. Thomas school. Understandably, their parents will be upset. The trustees, however, have to look at the entire picture and determine what is best, overall, for the students of Oakville. Making that decision won't be easy, but it's what the trustees signed on for when they signed up for the job. The least they could do is face their constituents before that decision is made. 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 Go parking woes are part of larger transit problem Re: Bronte GO commuters will have to grin and park it, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 2 How disappointing it was to read how quick Mayor Rob Burton dismissed public transit as a possible option of mitigating the parking problems at Bronte GO station. For a mayor who campaigned on a promise to propose sustainable development options for the Town of Oakville, one would expect that encouraging public transportation would be a top priority for the Town. Bus transportation in Oakville needs to be revisited. Taxpayers subsidize bus service to the tune of $10 million per year and the majority do not use it because it is inconvenient and does not service their needs. How many full-size empty buses have to go down the same route time after time before someone notices that no one is using it (ie. Hixon St.)? Why could the Town of Oakville not work with GO Transit to propose innovative ways of addressing parking problems by revamping the bus route system to address the needs of commuters? Halton Region participates in the Smart Commute Initiative (smartcommute.ca). Smart Commute's goal is to reduce the number of vehicles on our roads by offering more efficient modes of transportation. Adding more parking spots at the GO stations is reasonable considering the rapid growth in Oakville, however, it is far from innovative and only serves to encourage more commuters to drive to the station. Oakville needs some fresh thinking about options to reduce congestion on our roads by using the bus system in a more efficient manner. We need fewer meetings to discuss it and more action to implement it. C. STINSON Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Seniors need plowing solution Re: Plowing in driveway poses danger, Oakville Beaver, Jan 4. I heartily agree with the writer regarding clearing driveways. There are many seniors in the same position as her and her husband. We would love to stay in our homes, but the snow in winter is a real problem. My husband and I volunteer at a breakfast program in the school and have to be there at 7 a.m. See Staying page 7 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.