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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, September 21, 2012 · 6 Opinion & Letters 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 -- 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The Oakville Beaver 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 OakvilleBeaver is a division of David Harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Do you have an exit strategy? If you awoke to your house on fire, do you have an escape route? What if that route was blocked by flames? What then? Is there a second way out? Having two ways out is the theme of this year's National Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 7-13) being kicked off in Oakville with the annual open house scheduled this Saturday (Sept. 22) from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Oakville Fire Department Training Campus located at 1144 South Service Rd. W. Fire Prevention Week is a tradition across North America and the Oakville Fire Department has participated the past 12 years by hosting its kick-off event. Fire departments dream of another tradition, too -- that every family and household would have a fire escape plan. Despite the gravity of having to flee in the face of a fire, when the idea is just that, a what if?, rather than a reality, the planning can be a great topic for family discussion as well as an important first step toward being prepared in the event of a fire at home. Does everyone in the home know what to do? Do children know what they should do and have you discussed who looks after family pets and toys? Having working smoke alarms is another of the preventive measures most commonly advocated by our local fire department. Not only are these devices proven lifesavers, but having them, and in working order, is the law. In Ontario, you must have at least one smoke alarm on every floor of your home and outside all sleeping areas. Once installed, replacing your alarm's battery at least once a year helps ensure it will function correctly in a life-or-death emergency. In addition to several firefighter demonstrations at this weekend's open house, many hands-on activities will be available for the public, including watching fire and rescue simulations and trying on fire-fighting gear. The open house also provides an excellent opportunity to thank our local firefighters for the peace of mind they provide to all of us. Knowing there are men and women prepared to risk their lives in the event of a house fire, and who possess the specialized skills to rescue us from the twisted wreckage of a car crash, make it easier to sleep at night. For more fire safety information, visit www.oakville. ca or www.nfpa.org. 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. Heritage homeowner irked by `The Designators' Letter to the editor 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. Let's help deliver some books Please, let's help Books with No Bounds. We have all read in our Oakville papers about the two young local sisters who have spent significant time, effort and their own money to collect books for youths in the 49 First Nations communities in northern Ontario, some accessible only by plane. It is sad to realize many of these youths do not have access to reading material, which explains why their literacy skill levels are significantly lower than their peers elsewhere in Ontario. This jeopardizes their future. Julia and Emma Mogus have collected more than 4,000 books to send to the Nishnawbi Aski Nation. But now their effort, Books with No Bounds, needs help from our community to get the books shipped to Thunder Bay where Wasaya Airways, a Northern Ontario airline, has offered to cover 90 per cent of the cost to ship the books the rest of the way. I am urging people in our community who possibly own or work for trucking companies or know someone who does, to help get these books to Thunder Bay. Books With No Bounds, it can be reached at bookswithnobounds@cogeco. ca. Sandy Tanaka, Oakville Our 1915 home near downtown Oakville was recently placed on a list of Designated Heritage Homes. We appreciate the concept of "for the greater good" in a civilized society. However, our property value has declined because of this designation, and there is no benefit to us in having the designation. We have invested in the property over the past 18 years and have suddenly been placed on this dreaded list that suggests to us perhaps we were fools to keep the property well maintained... maybe the folks driving around town looking for houses to designate would have driven right past if we had left the home to deteriorate. Do the `Dreaded Designators' realize that they are removing large amounts of hard-earned dollar value from the homeowners? Is this fair? Owners of Designated Heritage Homes should have a credit of significant value placed on their property tax bill. Then maybe we wouldn't all have to line up at Town Hall to petition the Town to remove us from the list, and we would happily continue to maintain our properties without fear of a drive-by of `The Designators.' Lyn Labenski, Oakville Re: Town Unveils Bronte Business Action Plan, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, Oakville Beaver. Nowhere is there mention of Bronte's main assets, the harbour, beach and creek. Town Council, in its wisdom, last year, disbanded the Local Citizens Advisory Groups; with Bronte Business Action Plan needs harbour, beach and creek no replacement. The mayor and councillors have stopped responding to critical e-mails, with no apparent means of communication between residents and their immediate representatives. Bronte Beach should be a major asset and public attraction, but is unsafe and an environmental eyesore. Bronte Harbour -- the west side adjoins the beach with the same comments. Bronte Creek water is constantly loaded with silt and requires near yearly dredging for use by sailboats. Coverage of farm land and a large golf course with development upstream causes excess creek contamination. The Town is indecisive on whether to dredge 2012 and has no plans to contain the silt upstream. Colin Davey, Oakville