w w w .insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 2 3 , 2 0 1 7 | 6 E d ito ria l Too long in the w aiting ItS absolutely marvelous that Halton will be getting a new courthouse. ItS absolutely horrendous how long it took. And its going to take much longer before we actually get a new courthouse. The story was the same for the new Oakville hospital -- and most of the schools, high school and elemen tary, that have ever been built. As they say, the Province needs to see the whites of the students' eyes, actual bod ies, before new schools can be justihed. So students get the `portable experience' if caught in the scenario at the right time. Patients suffered the same at the hospital. Now the squeeze is on at the courthouse. Oakville was extremely fortunate this week with two visits from provincial ministers and two projects funded -- in one week. Unfortunately, it isn' t just in a week. While the new courthouse has been announced, the hne print of our page 4 story indicates an environmen tal assessment must occur. Its site, in what' s known as the Oakville Land Assembly, is provincially-owned land and the surrounding area is home to Bronte Creek Pro vincial Park, Glenorchy Conservation Area and much more. While not necessarily expected to impede the provincial plan, the assessement will take time. If all goes well, shovels for the new courthouse are to be in the ground by late 2019. And it' s noted such projects can take hve to seven years. So we' re talking two years from now before a shovel goes into the ground. Perhaps nearly a decade before the official ribbon is cut. The new Oakville hospital and soon-to-open Halton Regional Police headquarters will be aging relatives by then. It leaves a good number of years for the overcrowded, admittedly strained, potential hazardous conditions at the Steeles Avenue court house to continue. It was some 18 months ago the Oakville Beaver car ried a story in which Oakville lawyer Paul Stunt, who spent over a decade in Halton' s Crown Attorney' s ofhce, was advocating for a new courthouse for Halton. And he'd been advocating for some time by then. A lack of available office space, complicated security logistics and overall lack of privacy in the aging court house -- erected in 1960 with an addition in the late 1970s -- continue to burden the efficiency of Halton Regions justice system, despite the Ministry of the At torney General' s knowledge of the problem. On any given day it' s not unusual to see lawyers and clients in the Milton courthouse crammed into make shift meeting rooms that were once closets, or inmates being escorted down corridors past witnesses or even jurors. Almost everyone uses the same elevator, but can' t use it at the same time for security reasons. It' s great a new facility will be built. It' s too bad, it will be so long in the making. 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NEIL OLIVER V ice -P re s id e n t a n d G roup P ub lishe r o f M e tro la n d W est KELLY MONTAGUE R egional G eneral M a n a g e r DANIEL BAIRD A dvertising D irecto r ANGELA BLACKBURN M a n a g in g E ditor Letters to the Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI P hotography D irecto r LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC B u sin e ss M a n a g e r Mange is a disease that can be treated Re: Coyote attacks, kills cat, Oakville Beaver, Thursday, June 1 5,201 7 I read the article in your Thursday paper about the coyote attack on the black Persian cat. My condolences to the girl and her family. In the article it was mentioned th a t mange is not a threat to humans or pets. Many years ago, when foxes were prevalent in east Oakville, my dog got the mange and the vet told me it was passed on by the foxes, which eventually led to their demise. I was very fortunate th a t a medicine had re cently been discovered at the tim e and my dog recovered. N ot so with the foxes unfortunately. This is a preventable disease now for our furry friends simply by administering this medicine on a monthly basis. It covers other diseases as well as fleas. MARK DILLS D ire c to r o f P rod uctio n MANUEL GARCIA P rod uctio n M a n a g e r CHARLENE HALL D ire c to r o f D is trib u tio n KIM MOSSMAN C ircu la tio n M a n a g e r OAKVILLE Abbe Osicka, Oakville Beaver. Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member T h an k stofoodd riv evolu n teersand donors Thank you to the 5 1 3 volunteers from 15 Oakville congregations who collected food from 2 ,7 7 4 homes last weekend (June 1 7 /1 8 ) and then sorted and packed it in boxes. Thanks to Food For Life for helping us. We are grateful to the households who left a filled bag on their doorstep so th a t we could en sure the local food banks (Kerr Street Mission, Salvation Army and Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre) are able to keep their shelves full over the summer. We will be back next June. Recognized for Excellence by ' . I · Ontario Com munity New spapers Association Canadian Com munity N ewspapers Association Michelle Knoll, Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Pud by Steve Nease Y T pp M \^l Ontario Press Council Defending principles to inspire public trust The Oakville Beaver is a mem ber o f th e Ontario Press Council. The council is located a t 8 0 Gould St., Suite 2 0 6 , Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M 7. Phone 4 1 6 -3 4 0 -1 9 8 1 . Advertising is accepted on th e condition that, in the event o f a typographical error, th a t portion o f advertising space occupied by the eironeous item, together with a reasonable allowance fo r signature, will not be charged for, b u t th e balance o f th e advertise m ent will be paid for a t th e applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.