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www.insideHALTO N.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, July 1, 2016 | 6 Happy Birthday, Canada We have so much to be proud of and thankful for as Canadians, and today is the day to wear our pride on our sleeve -- and wherever else you deem appropriate. Don your red and white, sing O Canada, take a moment, better yet, the day, to look around you, breathe it in and be grateful. As Oakville residents, we live in one of the best places in Canada, which is itself one of the best places on Earth. We may face challenges throughout the year or at different times on our journey through life, but even as we do, and we set about making changes to move forward, we are already ahead of the game because we live in town, a province, a country where we can. Today, as we drink in our good fortune, be proud and celebrate with friends, family and neighbours, it is also a time to remember that each day of the year, we should embrace and be true to the democracy that enables us to live our lives in peace. As we witness challenges to peace around the world, as we see injustices occurring in various locations across the global map, it is incumbent on us to not only stand up for our peace and freedom, but to reach out to help others achieve it as well. This year, our country and town, have welcomed refugees from Syria and today, those who have already arrived to begin a new life in Canada, may best know how lucky we are here. Now, they, too, can be as fortunate. Hats off to everyone who has worked diligently to give them a helping hand to get started, you have exempli ed our Canadian spirit. And though Canadians may be reputed as demure or quietly proud, never fear we are proud, very proud. That's evident throughout the year, as we pay tribute to our veterans, who made incredible sacrices, many paying the ultimate price, their life, for our freedom. We show our respect for our current Armed Forces members, who also make sacri ces as they are deployed throughout the world to promote peace. We celebrate our multicultural landscape and our Native Canadians, all of whom enrich our lives and our country as we all share, learn and embrace cultures from around the globe. Our governments, despite daily politics that come with the turf, are democratic and open and accountable to the people. Our schools support our leaders of the future, instilling in our youths, the qualities and character that will ensure our democracy, openness, inclusiveness and respect for all people, traditions, environment, institutions and more, will continue. We have so very much to be thankful for as Canadians, we must celebrate it, appreciate it, respect it and share it. Happy Canada Day! Editorial E Y E O N T H E C R O W D "Connected to your Community" 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 54 | Number 53 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER KELLY MONTAGUE DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN Oakville's Lisa Kirton took this photo from the top of the Ferris wheel at last weekend's The Co-operator's Oakville Family Ribfest. For more photos, see Artscene or visit oakvillebeaver.com. RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager My View LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC Director of Production MARK DILLS O Province launches review of the OMB Kevin Flynn MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager ntario has launched a review of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and wants your feedback to help inform the government of what changes need to be made to make it more effective. The feedback will contribute to a consultation paper to be released this fall. The OMB is an important part of the province's land use planning system. Most matters that come before the OMB are under the Planning Act, including appeals on land use planning decisions, such as of cial plans and zoning by-laws. In recent months, we held a series of public and stakeholder consultations on the Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, the Long-term Affordable Housing Strategy, and the Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review. Through these consultations, we received input on improvements that could be made to the OMB, including its role in Ontario's land use planning system. We took the feedback seriously and have already acted upon some of the suggested improvements. For example, changes we incorporated into the Smart Growth for Our Communities Act included giving citizens a more meaningful voice in the land use planning process, building a more accountable and transparent decision making process, and focussing on alternative dispute resolution to reduce the number of OMB hearings. This is a good start and we're looking at other ways to improve the effectiveness of the OMB. We'd like to hear your views on topics such as jurisdiction and power; clarity and predictability Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Ontario Labour Minister Oakville MPP Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by in decision making; hearing procedures and practices; alternative dispute resolution; and timely processes and decision making. Another area of interest where public input would be valuable concerns the ways to ensure meaningful citizen participation and the local perspective. This could include how to ensure the ability of the public to participate, how to ensure the process is affordable, and, the role of the citizen liaison of ce. We continue to see a need for an independent appeal body that can hear planning matters that are often complex, in order to protect long-term public interests. At the same time, we also recognize the need for continuous improvement to the land use planning and appeal system. Comments can be sent to OMBReview@ ontario.ca. There will be additional opportunities to engage on this topic in the fall. Your input matters and will be important to any reform we undertake.. Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: 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, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. 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.