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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , O ct ob er 2 9, 2 01 0 6 467 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 The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS 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@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Thank you Peter Gilgan. Thank you for dipping deeply into your own pocket for $10 million and making it that much easier for the Oakville Hospital Foundation to reach its goal of $60 million in private dona- tions for the new Oakville hospital on Third Line. As founder and CEO of Mattamy Homes, you have shown that developers are not the bogey- men they are often portrayed by politicians and critics especially during municipal elec- tions. We often forget that developers not only help build our communities through their housing, they help build our communities through such generosity as you displayed yesterday with your gift to the hospital. We realize this is not your first philanthrop- ic gift to your community. Over the years you have made many large donations to the Oakville United Way, Toronto Sick Childrens Hospital and the YMCA of Oakville to name a few. Still, $10 million is a lot of money, even for the CEO of one of Canadas leading home- builders. At yesterdays press conference you provided a simple explanation for your generosity by stating: I have eight kids, so Ive had lots of trips to the Oakville hospital. A bone that went out of place here or there, somebody was really sick with something, more recently a couple of births and every time I would go there it was really significant to me the level of dedication of all the staff, all the doctors and nurses who work there. As a member of this community, you have stepped forward with a sizeable (to say the least) donation that hopefully will encourage others to follow your example. With your donation you have given new meaning to the phrase giving back to the community. On behalf of the many Oakville residents who will benefit from your $10 million dona- tion now and in the future, once again, we thank you. The Oakville Beaver is a division of NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West 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 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 editorThank you THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America The 2010 municipal election is now over and congratulations to our new council. Your volunteers are now busy removing the copious quantity of election signs from all over the town. Having a vision of The Most Livable Town seems to have been forgotten when one had to view the election sign pollution on all of our major roads over the last couple of months - for example Upper Middle Road and Dorval. Especially compared to travelling through Mississauga on Lakeshore Road, Winston Churchill Boulevard and Eglinton Avenue which I did last week - amazingly no election signs along the side of the roads. I also under- stand that Burlington also restricts the place- ment of election signs. Before you forget, it is now time to pass an election sign bylaw to restrict signage during future elections. Town staff would not have to work hard on the bylaw probably just review the Mississauga and Burlington bylaws and change the name to Oakville. Des Hunter, Oakville All signs point to need for election sign bylaw Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com Voter apathy is appalling With the municipal election behind us, I find myself continu- ously amazed at the statistics regarding low voter turnout and the low voter participation at all- candidate meetings. How else will you find out about the candidates who are running if you don't take an interest? Even at that, the questions asked at the two all-candidate meetings I attended were not suffi- cient or detailed enough to provide insight into who would be the best candidate. I left both meetings knowing who I wouldn't vote for, but still unsure of who would serve Oakville best. After all, how can you make a decision based on a few two min- utes of a candidate's response? I might suggest it is important to go out and then do some addi- tional research such as e-mailing the candidate with some questions. During an election, we elect or hire a candidate to run matters impacting many aspects of our lives, homes and families. Clearly this is one of the most important decisions we are privi- leged to make. Any citizen who doesn't attempt to understand the issues, and then doesn't exercise his or her right to vote, does not understand the meaning of the word democracy. MARGARET MERCER, OAKVILLE What would the feminists say to a cartoon clearly showing that a man had physically beat up a woman? Is there a woman's shelter for Ann Mulvale to go to? Is her self esteem shattered? Perhaps we are now adult enough to handle a cartoon like this without worrying about the implications? ADRIAN STONELL, OAKVILLE Cartoon raises question