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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 24, 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: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. 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 Homelessness cannot be ignored In a community as affluent as Halton, it's hard to believe that homelessness is a problem. Although it is an issue that is often overlooked, there are people in Halton who may not know where they will sleep tonight. And it's a problem that is growing, according to officials with social agencies dealing with the problem. To say that Halton is not meeting the needs of the homeless is an understatement. With a population of 440,000 people, Halton has one emergency shelter, the Lighthouse Shelter run by the Salvation Army, with a total vacancy of 25 beds; 15 for males and 10 for females. In contrast, Hamilton with a population of 505,000, has 10 emergency shelters in with an estimated 509 available beds. Other agencies, such as Home Suite Hope and Transitions for Youth, offer transitional housing for specific at-risk clients. One solution is simply to ship out Halton's homeless problem to neighbouring communities, such as Hamilton, Mississauga and Toronto. While some people may find this an acceptable solution -- out of sight, out of mind -- we feel much more needs to be done. The first step is recognizing homelessness is a problem and dedicating resources and funding towards finding solutions. To its credit, Halton Region has done this by allocating $3.02 million in funding for seven community initiatives to address homelessness and eviction prevention. But, according to local organizations, it is not enough with the mounting number of homeless and those at-risk of becoming homeless. Perhaps it's time to bring this issue to the attention of the many politicians trying to win our votes during the federal election. Is homelessness a priority with their party? Is it even on their radar? Homelessness is a complex problem with no easy solution. The first step is to recognize the problem before it becomes too big a crisis to ignore. Sending our neighbours away because they have fallen on hard times is not an acceptable solution. 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 As chair of the Bronte Butterfly Foundation (BBF) I am saddened by the foundation's recent decision to terminate the long-time dream of many -- to develop the world's first butterfly park and winter skateway. Our organization put in years of tireless effort, along with the support of many citizens, to raise the funds to accomplish this dream. We are very thankful for everyone's support, however, after making what we believe to be our best efforts, including a variety of fundraising attempts along with contracting a capital fundraising company, our board had no alternative, but to acknowl- Terminating Bronte Butterfly Foundation was difficult decision edge failure. It was a very difficult decision for the BBF board to arrive at. Our progress was not satisfactory, so we made the decision based on the fact that we had sufficient funds to turn over to the Town with the commitment that the Town would accept responsibility to make certain that every sponsorship would receive the dedicated tree, bench or paver that was expected. Our financial operation was effectively audited, managed and reported to the appropriate authorities by one of our board members who is a chartered accountant. I am very sorry that so many of you are as disappointed, as I am, but I hope you will agree that we made the correct decision. RALPH ROBINSON, CHAIR BRONTE BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION This week's poll The Oakville Beaver has a polling feature on its website oakvillebeaver.com. A new poll will be posted every Wednesday with the results of the poll published in the following Wednesday edition of The Oakville Beaver. This week's question is: Which election are you following more closely?: · American · Canadian To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: What do you believe is the main issue in this federal election? · Childcare 1.85% · Economy 33.33% · Environment 20.37% · Healthcare 5.56% · Leadership 29.63% · War in Afghanistan 9.26% Total votes: 54 Ed. note: Survey not based on recognized statistical methods. 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