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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, August 11, 2010 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends 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: Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY Regional 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Facing the truth Meet David Smyth. He is a desperately ill Oakville resident who needs a bone marrow transplant. Smyth, who has lived with the condition Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SDS) for most of his life, now has leukemia as a result of the disease. Oakville residents have turned out in droves for the special clinics set up to see if there is a match for this courageous young man. Despite the critical situation David faces, he is more concerned about his schoolwork and falling behind. He just finished his first year at Trent University in Peterborough, taking political science, where he obtained an 80 per cent average. He is also taking a summer course in political theory at the University of Toronto. Now meet Burlington's Ashley Kirilow who admits she faked cancer and no longer has the thousands of dollars fundraised for alleged research. "All I can say is I'm sorry," the 23-year-old woman said Friday. Police have charged Kirilow with three counts of fraud under $5,000. She didn't say why she allegedly conned people into giving her money by pretending to have cancer since the beginning of 2009 -- going as far as to shave her head, wax her eyebrows, pluck out her eyelashes and starve herself. We can't imagine the anger all Halton residents must feel towards a woman who now faces charges for using devastating disease for personal gain. What must those who are truly battling illness, fighting for their very life, think of an individual who shaved her own head to look like someone doing their best to beat cancer? What about all the legitimate folks who so graciously give of their time to fundraise for cancer research? What about the kind residents who believed the woman's story and gave what they could to help? Kirilow blames a dysfunctional family life for her alleged slip in moral and rational behaviour. We hope the courts think the same way as we do and that there is no excuse for using cancer or any other disease for that matter as a money grab. Perhaps Kirilow needs to spend some time in a real oncology department with real patients with real needs. 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. Letter to the editor Out of control Re: Ignatieff meets Oakvillians, Aug. 4, Oakville Beaver. "We will take this forward to Ottawa," he said. "There may be federal action that may be taken there and we will talk to our provincial cousins, a great government, a government with whom we have very good relations and I will say what we hear today." -- Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, July 30 20101, Town Square, Oakville Who in the world does this man think he's kidding? This is Oakville. May? May? be federal action? In conjunction with a provincial government who has had to apologize and try to put to rest issues of the eco-tax in the HST? E-Health? Caledonia? Please. Max Khan is running for local council in Ward 6. He's also the federal candidate for Oakville for the next federal election. Where were Max and Mike on the issue of the power plant months ago? If Mr. Ignatieff is so influential, why didn't the Ward 6 councillor call the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Premier of Ontario to ask for this influence before all the controversy? If Max Khan is at the municipal, and presumably the provincial or federal, leadership table, why has it taken this long for him to say anything? This race has gotten completely out of hand. While we're at it...shall we go after "We want to draw into the party all those Progressive Conservatives, and there may be some of you in the audience, wondering where the progressive went in Conservatives? [It went into} the big red tent." I don't think so. Approximately 200 people attended this event. Oakville exceeds 160,000 logically thinking residents. A moderately entertaining summer road show in the most livable town in Canada, that can add to its credits -- Midnight Madness and the Jazz Festival. No Waterfront Festival. No Shakespeare in the Park. No Summerfest in Glen Abbey. Lucky us. JODY SANDERSON, OAKVILLE Letters to the editor 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. Region will smooth drop-offs Re: Letter to the editor, Aug. 4, Oakville Beaver This letter is in response to Pauline Maynard's letter to the editor on Wednesday, Aug. 4. Each year, a Special Waste Drop-off Event is held in the four local municipalities of Halton Region. The main purpose of the events is for residents to conveniently drop off their household hazardous waste and electrical and electronic waste in a safe and convenient manner. The July 24 event was a tremendous diversion success, with more than 900 vehicles visiting the site. Unfortunately, the high resident demand, coupled with the inclement weather, led to longer lineups and idling times than usual. Going forward, Halton Region will continue to look for the best locations to hold the drop off events where idling and wait times can be minimized as much as possible. Halton Region is very proud that in 2009, residents diverted more than 60 per cent of household waste from landfill and as a result, the life of the landfill site has been extended by an additional 10 years. In 2011, Halton will begin the development of the revised Solid Waste Management Strategy, which will identify key initiatives to enhance diversion and provide Halton residents with more options to safely and conveniently divert waste from the landfill. For more opportunities to divert household waste, please visit www.halton.ca/waste. DAVID MILES, MANAGER PROGRAM PLANNING AND COLLECTION, HALTON REGION