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

w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, D ec em be r 8 , 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 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. Genevi Bergeron, Hne Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Lagani, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Mich Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik- Widajewicz. Twenty-one years ago these 14 young women got up on the morning of Dec. 6, 1989, enjoyed a cup of coffee, ate breakfast, chatted with their friends and loved ones and headed off to class at the Lole Polytechnique in Montreal. They would never return. The 13 engineering students and one staff member were deliberately killed by a gunman before he turned the gun on himself. The victims were targeted because they were women. The gunman had studied for admission to the school, but was not accepted a decision he blamed on affir- mative action policies. In a suicide note he left on his body, the gunman described his rage against women. The senseless killings of these 14 young women sent a shockwave across the country, which is still felt today. Parliament has officially declared Dec. 6 as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. On that day, vigils are held in communities across the country to honour and remember the 14 victims of what is now called the Montreal Massacre. In Oakville, a vigil is held each year in the peace Garden of the Oakville Campus of Sheridan College. The victims will not be forgotten, but have we learned anything from this senseless tragedy. Has socie- ty changed for the better? Sadly, the answer may be no. The statistics about violence against women are alarming. Statistics Canada reports more than half of all women have experienced some form of physical or sex- ual violence; most are under the age of 25. According to a Status of Women Canada report, on average, 178 females were killed every year between 1994 and 2008; in 2008, there were 146 female victims of homicide in Canada. Of these, 45 were victims of spousal homicide. For many women in Canada, violence remains a reality. We must do more. We must speak out against violence in all its forms. We must hold our politicians, at all levels, accountable for developing programs that focus on prevention and examine the root causes of violence. We must try to build a better society, if not for the sake of ourselves and our children, then for the sake of the 14 women who were senselessly killed 21 years ago. We owe them that much. NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief 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 occu- pied 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 editorThe wounds remain 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 Residents didnt block methadone clinic The Oakville Beaver is a division of Oakville becoming unfriendly to dogs Re; Sidewalks are for kids, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 24. It is with dismay that I read the let- ter to the editor. I have noticed a growing trend Oakville is becoming dog un-friendly. To the letter writer I wont dig- nify the let them urinate at home comment with a response. However, I do note that you have suggested or take them to a dog park which is des- ignated for leash-free dogs. Does that mean that our dogs are no longer wel- come in other parks? We should keep them off the sidewalks, you said. Id rather walk by a dog on the sidewalk than try to dodge strollers, bikes and people, who arent looking where theyre going and cant be bothered to apologize when they stumble into me because of it. I read that you object even to the dogs using the one piece of grass left in the downtown core because its the grass in the Town Square. Perhaps the presence of dogs wouldnt be so con- centrated in that area if we left (and planned) green spaces for the dogs. Dogs are more well behaved in downtown Oakville and certainly more welcome than many people. Dogs uri- nating is natural and should not become a talking point. However, individuals that spit on the sidewalks disgust me. Smokers who believe the world is their trash can disgust me. And lets not forget those who cast their coffee cups and wrappers and lit- tle bits of garbage that accumulate disgust me. This is what people do to our environment. Dog urine washes away with the rain. I will not turn my community over to people who have unrealistic expec- tations of town community and liv- ing, who believe that their likes and dislikes take precedence over things that are normal. I call on all dog owners to ensure that this increasing and ridiculous intolerance towards our canine friends does not gain momentum in our home of Oakville. T. OGILVIE MCDONALD 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circulation Manager DANIEL COLEMAN Regional Online Sales Manager Re: Grieving fathers quest, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 14 This tragic story has one critical aspect that should be explained to the grieving father and all Oakville residents. He believes the Kerr Street residents got together and rejected the proposed methadone clinic, which is not the case. When this matter blew up in September, 2009, the Town had already issued an occu- pancy permit for the clinic to proceed. However, a select group, including the West River Residents Association (WRRA) executive and some Town officials decided to oppose the clinic. This was done without any kind of pub- lic participation or the knowledge and approval of the general WRRA membership of some 750 members. The public impression was of the execu- tive democratically representing the full WRRA membership as though a balanced information meeting and an official vote to oppose the clinic had taken place. For example, a story (Kerr Street methadone clinic upsets residents) in the Oakville Beaver, Sept. 23, 2009, quoted the president, speaking on behalf of the WRRA, as opposing the clinic on Kerr Street. However, such a meeting and vote on this contentious issue never took place, and it is quite inaccurate to blame the residents who, on the whole, did not know what was going on. The following is a quote from the Spring 2010 WRRA newsletter. "Methadone Maintenance Clinic The Town has refused to give permission for owner George Benakopoulos to open his methadone clinic at 143 Kerr St., based on inadequate parking, so that location is no longer an issue. Our thanks to Mayor Burton and Councillors Duddeck and Oliver for leading the opposition to this site." ALAN STUART, OAKVILLE