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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, February 6, 2013 · 6 Opinion & Letters The Oakville Beaver 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 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 Halton Region 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 Giving Wynne a chance We're not prepared to write off Premier-designate Kathleen Wynne before she's had a chance to right the listing ship that is Ontario. However, we're also not forgetting how she recently steered Halton residents off course when it was politically-advantageous to do so. Wynne captured the Ontario Liberal leadership in January and along with the title of premier, appears to have won the political equivalent of a stay of execution for her party. Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn recently said Wynne has continually demonstrated leadership, energy and an ability to bring opposing sides to the table to find solutions to challenges. "I look forward to working closely with Kathleen on a number of important issues to Oakville," he said. The current political climate of the province seems to be about pulling together for the common good over forcing snap elections. If Wynne can somehow magically deliver jobs to Ontario -- the province that once laid claim to the title of economic engine of the country but currently has the highest unemployment rate west of the Maritimes at 7.9 per cent -- then she might actually finish the term Dalton McGuinty started. Still, we are only 18 months removed from then Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne's pre-election promise that no new highway would cross the Niagara Escarpment through Halton. "That detailed work has not been done because we're not moving ahead with it," Wynne told concerned Halton officials back in July 2011. Last year, Halton regional councillors were shocked and exasperated to learn from a Ministry of Transportation project co-ordinator that an escarpment route through north Burlington was still part of a proposed Niagara-to-GTA highway. The same ministry source also confirmed his department was never formally directed to remove any route options that pre-dated Wynne's 2011 promise. While we agree that it is the democratically right thing to do to allow Wynne an opportunity to put Ontario back on the road to economic recovery, we're also acutely aware that when another election appears on the political horizon, Wynne is not beyond resorting to that time-honoured political tradition of expanding the truth to attract more votes. 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. Empty waste bins a problem? Letter to the editor Certainly one of the most distressing things that can happen to a family is to have their house broken into. A problem that we face though, is that every weekday, Oakville has its garbage removed. What could be more of an indication that no one is home than empty blue boxes or green bins sitting curbside. Other than neighbourly vigilance there's not much one can do. I wonder if the break-ins happen on garbage days. Is there a way to diminish or avoid this problem? Ronald Rea, 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 ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Due to technical problems with the e-mail address editor@oakvillebeaver. com, The Oakville Beaver may not have received your letter to the editor. If you sent a letter recently that has not been published, please resend it to ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. This is the new permanent address for sending letters to the editor. We regret any inconvenience this has caused. Notice Coaches have lost sense of fair play Re: Playing Time: right or privilege? Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, The Oakville Beaver This article brings forth an important question that really does not have an answer. I have coached in Oakville and the Peel District School Board for the past 15 years and have had experience coaching athletes of all abilities; I have also coached teams that were very competitive and others that were very weak. My first year coaching girls' high school basketball in Peel, my team was very inexperienced and we played in tier 2 (the lower level). In that first year, we lost our first game by 70 points as I watched the other team's coach leave his best players on for the entire game and run up the score. This was a learning experience for my team that finished the season at 1-11, but had a great time winning that one game. Sadly, I have seen things that have left me scratching my head. I have seen coaches purposely put very strong teams in tier 2 to win a championship banner; I have also seen coaches blatantly ignore rules such as "not playing zone defence" in junior girls' basketball in order to win games. Fortunately, I have also been on the other end at the high school level. I currently coach a tier 1 senior boys cricket team that has filled our school's trophy case over the past four years. Coaching this team, we routinely have the opportunity to run up the score against weaker opponents. Although there is a tactical advantage to play your best players and beat up on the weaker teams to help with playoff seeding, I have made the conscious effort to play my bench against the weaker tier 1 teams. This instills a sense of fair play among my players and gives the weaker players a chance to play in real game situations. Perhaps being on the receiving end of blowouts has helped me make this decision. That being said, in matches against the other top schools and during the playoffs the bench gets shortened considerably and only those athletes that give us the best shot to win get playing time. That is part of the reason why there is no real answer to the playing time question. In Peel athletics, recent changes have been made that I think will improve things for athletes. Schools that choose to play tier 2 (developmental) play a full season but do not have playoffs or a championship. This stops schools from putting a very strong team in tier 2 to win a title; it also frees up coaches to give athletes equal playing time. For tier 1 sports however, there is a championship title on the line and come playoff time each team fields its best players and many athletes are reduced to the role of spectator. See Trying page 10