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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ed ne sd ay, M a y 15, 2002 EDITORIALS A N D LETTERS Till! OAKVILLE UKII LI! 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O nt L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Grculation: 845-9742 IAN OUVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLU Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director ROD JERRED Managing Editor M etrotondP rinting. Pubfcftng&Ostrtutrg LB. ndudu A ja w T Y fcsrW QN ew sA dw rtaer.AJW crM erattC ouner.Artw ErttcrpnwN ew s. S am eMoron B arry's B a yT M sW e e k. B cflon E nlorprts*. B ram pton G uardur BurtH gtoi P o st. B urtngtcnSteppingN e w s, C *yParwt G Jrgw cotV W aeaga C am ecO cn. List vcrttM rroi. E rinA dw cato-C ounayR o u te s. E tc<xofce G oJriX in. Fttm bcrouQ fi P ost. G eorgetow n udependenW cton Frw P re ss, m m ston R aw w .H uonu B u siness T im e*. K ingston T heW eek. Lindsay T N sV A s*. M nrW w mE conom tjt&S un,M tdtorxV P enetargushneM rror. N ew s. Noifi HA M rror. OMt BeM. OMt Sxctmj Osftw^ti«*»a»irvton P ort Pen* Th» W eek. 0»*ri Sard Trftuie. Paknenton O taerver P ttatoatfi Th* W et*. P W onCart) G ude.Wnxrt M fcThorrtiftViusNn LM . S cartxxougT M rror. SsoUMftUtmge Tftxne. FowwrXmxj. D ryd Urt G uardan THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Nfwspapnj Association /^ . A r 1 Canadian Community N«w5pap«r5 Association O T. - ,V .= r YM C^ LC O M B ^P · WO T TH flY Jn g e M Fund rA G O N i « SK Suburban Newspapers of Amcrica < prrt& TV AUCTION © IMMWiy k s fW W SM SSD iC fO Pia (Dnki'iUr A 7* ® OmT 1 * iii? N T m K H i O M M f in d |o a k v llle q a lltr le s | MQC Feeling the loss of an old friend Som etim es you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. Oakville residents will have to judge for them selves this year as the annual Picnic in the Park event doesn't happen this season. Lack o f volunteers to stage the event is the problem. T hat's a very sad statement in a town like Oakville where just about everyone, to some extent, seems to get involved in their community. From fundraising to coaching, from donating to the needy, to work ing toward a better place in which to live, Oakvillians get involved. Just recently. Volunteer Week saw many local volunteers recognized for their diligent work -- efforts they make for no personal gain and with out which w e'd lose many, many good things about our community. Yet, at the sam e tim e, the O akville H istorical S ociety is announcing that its Picnic in the Park, a 36-year tradition, w on't happen this year because o f a lack of people to make it happen. C hanging dem ographics and interests have created a victim of this family event, in a town where family life and opportunities for family involvem ent are key priori ties. Historical society officials hope that some new volunteers will be able to resurrect the event for next year. L et's hope so. And it appears it's not just the historical society that has been hit with a volunteer shortage. O akville G alleries has also scaled back on hours for its gift shop and art rental program, again because o f a lack o f volunteers. We're not saying those who are already involved should take on more. W e're not saying those who hon estly are too busy or have com m it m ents in other directions, should overextend themselves. However, if there are those who have a little extra time, don't be put off by thinking that historical stuff is old stuff or that the art world isn't your cup o f tea. It's possible to learn, never mind have fun, from just about any experience -- especially a good deed. And you'll likely find that many, including the beneficiaries o f your most precious gift -- your time -- would be more than grateful. Ed. note: This letter was originally sent to the presiding judge in a recent animal cruelty trial in Toronto and a copy was filed with the Oakville Beaver for publication. With all due and sincere respect I am writ ing to share with you how horrified I am by the actions of Jesse Power and Anthony Wennekers and how disheartened I am by the light sentences they received. When 1 read a description of the torture those men inflicted on an innocent life, I was very nearly sick to my stomach. It is my understanding that your reason for the light sentences was that they did not, in your opinion, commit the worst offence pos sible. My concern, in addition to the precedent of LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Animal laws too lenient on abhorrent behaviour Resident likes option of pesticide use leniency toward acts of cruelty toward animals that you have set, is that two men with an obvi ous lust for inflicting pain and a blatant disre gard of and disrespect for life have now been turned loose on our society and, thereby, given an opportunity to (possibly) commit a worse offence, if that is possible. I am sure you are familiar with research which shows that 90 per cent of known seri al/brutal killers have a history of torturing animals, including Paul Bernardo and Charles Manson. I am also sure that you do not need to be told the pain and suffering that would have been spared if they would have been caught early in these acts and dealt with in an appro priate manner, whether by severe punishment or rehabilitation, or both. On behalf of all residents of the Greater Toronto Area, I do not thank you for turning two sociopaths loose on our society. 1 do not thank you for failing to provide Jesse Power and Anthony Wennekers with the discipline and/or rehabilitation required to pre vent future tragedies involving torture and vio lence and gore and death. I do not thank you for sending a message worldwide that life is not worthy of respect and murder does not earn retribution. I do thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I don't envy you, Your Honour. The public is not pleased and you are going to have one hell of a fight on your hands. KIMBERLEY FORD I appreciated the opportunity to attend the information meeting regarding pesticides on Thursday, May 2, in Town of Oakville council chambers. 1 am very much opposed to the idea of regulating and banning the use of pesticides on private property in Oakville. I do not think it is desirable or necessary, and the impo sition of such a ban would have very negative conse quences. Pesticides, used properly for lawn, shrub and tree care, presents no meaningful harm to anyone, as proper technical assessment confirms, despite the misguided, misinformed, and exaggerated claims of a clique of a dozen or so at the meeting. The introduction of such a ban would surely result in the deterioration of the general appearance of the town and -Oakville would become a much less pleasant place to live and property values could decline significantly. I would reject the attempt to take away my rights to care for my property. The Town's series of meetings were billed as measures to obtain public opinion on this. This is an admirable objective. In this regard, I have discussed this matter with many in our area. I can tell you that the majority opinion is against such a ban; in fact, I did not find anyone that was in favour of a ban. I understand that the clique of activists have attended all your meetings, but this is scarcely an indication of majority public opinion. We trust that the council we have elected, and the heads of departments that they have appointed, will act sensibly and responsibly and reject this ill-founded idea. BILL PLANK Mom not impressed with drive-in experience I would like to share with you and the peo ple of Oakville a very embarrassing situation I have just experienced. My son wanted for his 10th birthday to watch the new Spider-Man movie, so off we went with eight boys and one girl, ages ranging from 7-11, to the ' 5 Drive-In'. We thought that Spider-Man was going to be on first (as advertised and indicated on the answering machine). On came The Sweetest Thing first, but that was okay, it's only a funny movie about girl meets boy, etcetera. How wrong I was. The sex scenes in this movie did not leave much to the imagination. I am a very open-minded mother and probably let my son watch a little more than he should at his age, but this was way over the top. Why do they put on a "Family" movie like Spider-Man when they know there are going to be young children watching, with a movie I would say is not meant to be for young chil dren. If it had even been on second (as advertised) we could have packed up and left, but it wasn't so we couldn't. Does anybody else feel the same way or am 1 suddenly becoming my mother? I hope not! SHARON McGREGOR 60 Minutes show gets local response John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister, is critical of David Harris, a former high level Canadian Security-Intelligence Service (CSIS) officer's appear ance on 60 Minutes. Defending his Liberal govern ment's refugee system, Mr. Manley said, "60 Minutes hasn't been in the business of praising governments." The question is, what is praise worthy about the government's refugee policy? Manley states almost threequarters of those refugees seeking asylum in Canada this year. entered through the U.S. Why are refugee claimants accepted from the United States? As of March 2002, there were 50,000 refugee claimants; so many that the Liberal government admits it cannot properly process these and has scrapped plans to overhaul the refugee board. ( The Toronto Star, 4/27/02). "There are people coming here (Canada) claiming to be refugees. We don't know any thing about them" -- Testimony given before the Senate last year by former head o f the Canadian Immigration Service James Bissett (National Post, 1/28/02). "But there have been many cases o f m alfeasance by C anadian em bassy officials around the world, including Syria, where at least $500,000 in fees paid for visas, passports and applications went missing a year or so ago. The same happened in the Los Angeles consulate." ( N ational Post, 4/4/02). Just how do these occurrences contribute to securing our bor ders? CSIS director Ward Elcock urged people watching 60 Minutes to put the problem in context, say ing "few of those groups or indi viduals pose a threat of direct ter rorist attack in Canada or indeed to our closest neighbour." (National Post, 1/26/02) How many is too few? It took only 19 terrorists to destroy the World Trade Center and only one young girl, a suicide bomber, to destroy a mall. In the face of these facts how does Manley seriously consider his government worthy of praise? RUDY J. FERNANDES Pesticides are part of the environmental problem The presentation to Halton regional council on May 8 by Dr. Nosal amply reaffirmed that the sources of the serious and growing environmental problems of air and ground pollution, must include pesticide spraying of parks and lawns. Incredibly, despite the soundness of the presentation; despite growing evidence of the cumulative environmental harm from spraying this stuff; despite examples of bans of it by many other jurisdictions, several councillors (and may ors) came to support its continued use. One councillor actually stated that a soccer player might injure himself by slipping on a dandelion; another intro duced the notion that, as his suit was made of chemicals, then it must be safe to spray. And finally, Oakville's mayor gave a dissertation on the evils of tobacco -- right she is, but, totally irrelevant to the proceedings and a red-herring to boot. All of which makes one wonder at the persuasive power and long arm of the lawn-chemical industry. A. DOBELL Pud Roberts Home from u N iB E R s n y y i By STEVE NEASE T \fieuoM& home' .MR. GRADUATE/, r v --* YOU MUST BE TIRED FROM Y our exams'/: Y0UG0IN6T 0 " Do WITH THE. r REST OFYO U R i _____ SO*WHAT ARE JSt Your Opinion Counts The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its read ers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal con siderations and grammar. In order to be published, letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville, On., L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@ oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any let ter. L E T !c m You RCoat AMD BAGS/ i