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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday February 23, 2000 T h e O akville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Nel Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Tferi Casas Office Manager Mark Dlls Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography Metroland Printing. Publishing & Distributing U d .. includes: Ajax/Pickering N ew s Advertiser, A lston HeralcVCourier, Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This W eek. Bolton Enterprise, Brampton G u an Ja n , Burlington Post. Burlington Shopping N ew s. City Parent. Cotingwood/Wasaga Connection. East 'itrk Mirror, Erin A dvocata'C ountry Routes. Etobicoke G u ard a n . Flamborough Post, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Huronia Business Tim es, Kingston T h is W e e k , Lindsay T h is W e e k , M a rk ha m Ecno m ist & S u n , M idlan d /P e n e ta n gu ishin e Mirror. 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P e te rb o ro u g h T h is W e e k , Picton C o u n ty G u id e , R ic h m o n d Hill/ThornhillAteughan Liberal, S ca rb o ro u g h Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, FcreverVtxng, City of \brk Guardian OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: O n ta rio C o m m u n it y A s s o c ia t io n N e w s p a p e r s THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: 4 ^ T vmca b r o n W fe L C O M E ^ W a g o n ltd. f4>C N A S K ^ 7 -T * C a n a d ia n C o m m u n it y r r S.NC. ,930 T }, E w # ut t e r f ly J t 1 N e w s p a p e rs A s s o c ia t io n mm JiNqlE Bell F m d 4 6 7 S p e e rs R d ., O a kville O n t L 6 K 3 S 4 (905) 845-3824 F ax: 337-5567 C la ss ified A dvertisin g: 845-2809 C irculation: 845-9742 S u b u rb a n o f i N e w s p a p e rs J^thena In w a rd ~ jh e __ (9rtki>iHe w ards FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE TV AUCTION rtlSSwlfe Editorials Poor example Education is not an isolated concept. It is com posed o f different elements that m ust be present if learning is to be achieved. Elim inate one o f these elements and students, especially those in elem en The Halton Catholic tary schools, soon equate learning with a nega District School Board is tive experience. S o w h e n th e p r o v in c ia l M in is tr y o f loath to building an addi Education and H alto n 's school b oard's m ake tion to St. Luke' s School to decisions affecting the learning process, they eliminate or reduce the use should be taken seriously. o f portable classrooms. C a se -in -p o in t, th e use o f p o rtab le c la ss room s at St. L u k e's School in the Clearview What about the children? area. H ere w e have a H alton C ath o lic D istrict School Board facility that currently has 290 students in portable classrooms. Considering that represents m ore than 40 per cent o f the school population, som ething has to be done. The num bers are clear. On average, 12 per cent of board students are housed in portable classroom s w ith 16.4 per cent o f the board's Oakville students using these "tem porary" facilities. Certainly, this is not only less-than-ideal from a learning perspective, but also a potential source o f health problem s. O ne need only look at the past record o f such problem s w ith portable classrooms to verify this fact. T he obvious solution here is to build an addition to the school. But such so lu tio n s are not as obvious to board trustees. O akville trustee A lice Ann LeM ay believes there are other board priorities and the St. Luke's situation is "not an urgent thing." Really. A nd the board's suggestion that enrolm ent will decline over the years, so that no portables will be needed by 2008 at St. L uke's is more wishful thinking than anything else. W hat they're saying, in effect, is that an entire elementary school generation will have to function with inferior learning facilities and the board is willing to m ake that sacrifice. T hat tells us som ething about the board and its priorities. TO CBC T m o W a n ts T o A R E A L M u lt i* M illio n a ir e ? Icoo Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters m ust be typed, signed and include the w riter's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Comments improperly portrayed Bronte Park group I write to take strong and vehe m ent exception to the letter written to T he O akville B eaver by a Mr. J.R. Etherington, and published in your issue o f Wed., Feb. 2nd. First, we would like to point out that the east side o f Bronte Creek P rovincial P ark is excep tio n ally clean, due to the dedication o f a Letter of the Week A m p h ith eatre p ro ject should n o t proceed in park So they've done away with the golf course project and now they're planning to build a 2,700 seat covered am phitheatre in our once lovely B ronte Provincial Park - repeat P R O V IN C IA L PARK! D oesn't that m ean anything? I know it does to me and to quite a few o th er reg u lar visitors to the Park. O ne recent morning, I was doing my usual round with dog Kelsey an d saw th re e co y o tes, a d e e r and v ario u s o th e r wildlife footprints in the snow. W hat happens to these i poor creatures now ? A nd how about the folks who like to visit the Park for a quiet w alk or picnic with their family? From the article in T he Oakville Beaver it would seem that $7 million would have to be raised to build this amphitheatre which will be in use for six to eight weeks o f the year. Are the `powers that be' completely out o f their minds? In the past, Bronte Park was a beautiful, well-maintained park - the orchards and grapevines were tended and the grass in those areas was cut regularly. During the sum m er months the only areas which are maintained are the picnic areas. The equipment along the fitness trail has been removed for some rea son and for several months of the year the car parks are turned into glorified parking lots for the benefit of the Ford Motor Company. One of the most ludicrous things I saw last year was a young deer walking out of the maze o f Ford vans parked in car park F. Mary Northwood St. M ildred's didn't deal in good faith with neighbours I w as astounded to read the letter from M. Hart, in the Wed. Feb. 9th issue. Obviously, this person is ill inform ed and does not appreciate that there are two sides to every story. T he only thing that St. M ildred's has been able to acco m p lish w ith their proposed expansion and the purchase o f four residential properties is a split in the neighbourhood. A "gentlem an" was taking pictures last w eek of the incredible traffic problem s and dangers that our n eighbourhood and your tw o daughters face daily. D id you step forw ard when the consultant hired by St. M ildred's took m ore pictures, video footage, traf fic counts, etc.? The last tim e we checked, this was a free country. St. M ildred's has not bought the whole o f Linbrook, at least not yet! Your statem ent that there are "plans o f extra lanes" is grossly inaccurate. This w as a proposal put forward b y S t. M ild re d 's, an d it w as sta te d at the O M B H earing, by the Town lawyer, that the Town w ould not support a centre turn lane. It is also o f interest to note that St. M ildred's expected the tax payers to pick up the tab for the proposed road im provem ent, when they are the primary cause o f the problem . As well, it w as sh o w n th a t the p ro p o sal w as su b stan d ard in design, and it did not m eet the Tow n's standard for the paved area for a collector road. As for your defense o f Susan Both, you would be w ell a d v ised to ac q u ain t y o u rs e lf w ith the facts. S u sa n B o th a d m itte d , u n d e r o a th , a t th e O M B H earin g , th at she d id m ake a co m m itm en t to the neighbours to provide a Board liaison, and this never took place. As for the tim e and effort put into this, you are right, w hy should w e have to spend our tim e and effort trying to m aintain the beauty and serenity of our neighbourhood? We are very much interested in m aintaining the status quo and living in harm ony with St. M ildred's, but they wish to change it, not us. A s to your reference o f the "Christmas Carol," I am becom ing a Scrooge, w hen my w eekends and evenings are spent fundraising, delivering flyers and attending meetings rather than spending them in my hom e with my family. We would not be in this position had St. M ildred's honoured a w ritten com m itm ent to the com m unity that enrollment would not exceed 530 (see letter from Sister A nita 1985). There was also a com m itm ent that there would be no further expansion after the last one in the m id-1980's. We like to deal in good faith, does St. M ildred's? It is w ith a good deal o f will pow er that I will refrain from dignifying your com m ents about charita ble causes et al with a reply. If you only knew the people involved and the significant contribution that they make to the community, you would sing a differ ent tune. group o f volunteers, most of whom are strong supporters o f the Bronte C re e k E a st P re s e rv a tio n A ssociation. T hese volunteers -- NOT O n ta rio P a rk s , M r. E th e rin g to n -- d o n a te d tw o garbage cans, and these same vol unteers -- NOT Ontario Parks, Mr. Etherington -- make sure the cans are emptied every week. Secondly, I would suggest that any sh o rtag e o f rab b its is m ore likely attributable to the number of co y o tes, fo x es and rap to rs w ho rightfully inhabit the park, rather th a n th e d o m e s tic a te d d o g . Furtherm ore, if Mr. E th erin g to n wishes to closely examine the scat he complains o f on the hiking and equestrian trails, he will find that much o f that is also attributable to the co y o te p opulation, w ho live there. The same phenomenon also occurs on both the roadw ays and th e w a lk in g tra ils on th e m o re developed west side o f the park as well. And before Mr. Etherington su g g ests that w e d estro y all the coyotes, foxes and raptors, let me remind him that these same fauna play an essential and valuable role in the food chain, as nature's scav engers. T hirdly, w e certain ly d id not misrepresent ourselves to various service groups. F rom the b eg in ning, our objectives were always very clearly, sim ply and publicly stated in our petition, w hich we shared openly with these organiza tions. I f it had n ot been fo r the thousands o f local people writing letters and signing our petition, I have no doubt the RC G A w ould have been m ore than pleased to take over the east side o f Bronte Creek Park. We w ould like to suggest that Mr. Etherington offer an apology to all th e p e o p le o f O a k v ille an d Burlington who worked so hard to preserve the east side o f B ronte Creek Provincial Park. Town's growth creating major headaches Did you ju st arrive hom e after sitting in that parking lot they call the Q EW for over an hour tonight? O r m aybe you thought you'd tiy the back roads ju st one more tim e? How was B um ham thorpe tonight? or D undas? or even better, h o w 'd you en jo y d riv in g dow n T h ird or F o u rth line? P erh ap s, as you d ro v e hom e to n ig h t alo n g th e " back roads," you noticed som e o f the farms. You m ight even have thought about apple picking with the kids next sum mer. Well, think again! Those farms and "back roads" w on't be farms and "back roads" for much longer. T he Town of Oakville is growing. The designation o f all the lands north o f Hwy. 5 are changing from agricultural to urban. If you think w e have traffic problems now, w hat's it going to be like when North Oakville is fully developed and 50,000 new residents move in? If you have an opinion about how these lands should be developed or how to handle the growing traffic pressure, now is your chance to share your thoughts. T here will be a public m eeting on Thurs. Feb. 24th, at 7:30 p.m. in the Oakville Room o f the Town Hall to continue the discus sion o f what's happening north o f Hwy. 5. The main topic that evening will be the determination o f the am ount and location of residential and em ploym ent lands. In addition, topics m ay include preservation o f rem aining w oodlots, transportation, and other related issues. If you have a vision for Oakville, com e out on the 24th and let your elected representatives know w hat you think. Renee Sandelowsky F o r tu n a te to liv e in O a k v ille A s a resu lt o f a 911 call on Jan. 7th, the O akville Fire Department and the Ambulance Service were at my door within th ree m in u tes. I w as sw iftly ac c e p te d at the E m ergency Department of the O.T.M.H. The joint effort of all these groups, because of their quick and efficient service, saved me during a serious heart problem. The nurses in the I.C.U. then conscientiously made me well enough to return home. With all the ongoing com plaints about these services, we should all consider ourselves lucky to live in Oakville. I know I do. Jim Allen C a m p a i g n w ill n e v e r e n d O akville's significant U nited Way contribution increase last year, over its 1998 achievement, was a testimonial once again, to the caring community in which we live. Participation from thousands o f donors w ho gave both time and money reflects the growing awareness that we are not immune to many o f the social problems that affect communi ties across our country. M any thanks goes to so many who made the difference in 1999 - to event organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and the thou sands o f participants in these wonderful events, to workplace leaders, labour, management, and to corporate donors. Thank you to the media, particularly the Oakville Beaver that so consistently and graciously donates space so that we can thank and inform. And finally to the hundreds of individu als, including com m uters, w ho have generously responded, recognizing the im portance o f giving to the com m unity in which you live - your gifts are sincerely appreciated. W e m o m e n ta rily sto p p e d th e c lo c k to c e le b ra te our achievement, but needs will never go on hold - United Way Campaigns should be seamless from year to year. But it does give us a change to say thank you again for saying Y ES to the 36 agencies and 60 programs that help those less fortunate in our great community. Kathy Mundy Moira Latham Pud D o n 't Yo u HAV e ' F ' Ho m e w o r k ? ___ by Steve Nease m 7 o'ssmi"?/) i f s fbR HISTORY. * Don Pangman Campaign Chair -1999 United Way o f Oakville