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45454| O akville B eaver | T hursday,June 14,2018 insidehalton.com Visit us online at cnmilton.ca to take the survey. The proposed CN Milton Logistics Hub will provide critical infrastructure to keep the region and our economy moving. CN is seeking input on how it can contribute further to benefit residents and businesses. Milton Logistics Hub Share your thoughts on community benefits JUNE 11 - 29, 2018 Meat Warehouse dietrichs QEWQEWQ 1260 SPEERS 3r d L in e 3r d L in e 3r d L in e 4t h L in e 4t h L in e 4t h L in e D or va l NX Unit 13 "VISIT DIETRICHS FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF SPECIALTY MEATS FOR YOUR BBQ AND HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING!" 1260 SPEERS RD., UNIT 13, OAKVILLE 905-847-5295 OAKVILLE'S MOST TRUSTED NAME FOR QUALITY MEAT PROUDLY SERVING OAKVILLE FOR 32 YEARS HOURS Monday CLOSED. •Tues-Thurs 10-7 •Fri9-7•Sat9-6 •Sun11-5 A group of Oakville kids got a chance to put forward some big ideas about how to make the town a better place during the fourth an- nual Bring it to Council event on May 11. The friendly competi- tion, which was held within the Oakville council cham- ber, aims to enhance the students' understanding of municipal government, its structure and council pro- cedure. It is also intended to help develop the participants' presentation skills and pro- mote a variety of opportu- nities for student voice and engagement. The May 11 event fea- tured 11 Grade 5 students from the Halton Districtfrom the Halton Districtf and Halton Catholic Dis- trict school boards. A May 4 Bring it to Council event featured Grade 5 students from local independent schools. Before the May 11 event began Oakville Mayor Rob Burton talked about the im- pact youths and their ideas have had on the town. "We only have skate parks in Oakville because kids decided they wanted to ask council to build skate parks," said Mayor Burton. "Kids organized each other, came to council and made a case to the council- lors of the day." Despite some initial set- backs Burton said these youths persevered and the skate parks were built. He said similar perse- verance on the part of a group of local girls resulted in the establishment of youth drop-in centres. For Bring it to Council, the Grade 5s had an oppor- tunity to bring forward an idea they believed would make Oakville a better place. They were also tasked with explaining how they would pay for the project and defending their idea in a debate with their peers. The Oakville youths presented a wide range of ideas. Nico Schmidt of Gladys Speers Public School called for the creation of more rec-for the creation of more rec-f reational facilities to get kids more active and healthy and less screen ad- dicted. "The old Target store at Hopedale Mall could be turned into a double hock- ey rink," said Nico. "More people would go to the mall." Bronwyn Stewart of Gladys Speers called for the banning of plastic straws in Oakville, noting the straws are used once and then ei- ther sit forever in a landfill or make their way into bod- ies of water where they harm wildlife. Her plan called for the replacement of the plastic straws with reusable metal ones. "They have already started to ban plastic straws in other places," said Bronwyn. "The only cost involved would be to redesign fast food cups. If the fast foodfood cups. If the fast foodf companies don't want to spend the money they can raise prices on the drinks to pay for the new cups." Alex Selkirk of Gladys Speers called for Oakville to be made more wheel- chair accessible by provid- ing portable ramps to those who need them and reno- vating street curbs so wheel chairs can traverse them. Naba Aziz of W.H. Mor- den Public School called for the creation of more side- walks in south Oakville. Jaya Naik called for the construction of a multi-lev- el parking lot where an ex- isting downtown Oakville standard parking lot is cur- rently located at 277 Lake- shore Rd. E. The $1 million to $2 mil- lion facility would offer 300 parking spots. "Downtown Oakville can be a great place, but not as many people are coming downtown because it is not very efficient to get there," said Jaya. Laya Kavesseri of Paler- mo Public School called for the creation of dog wash fundraisers that couldfundraisers that couldf raise money for flower beautification projects throughout the town. She said the project would not only beautify ar- eas of the town, but would teach residents how to grow various types of plants and help people make connections in the community. Julia Foster of Palermo Public School called for the planting of more trees while Nikita Belfon-Hoff- NEWS Students share ideas on making Oakville a better place during competition Winner of the best idea was Bronwyn Stewart, 10, a grade 5 student at Gladys Speers Public School and her idea was to ban plastic straws in Oakville. Here, the group shot of all 11 junior councillors with Mayor Rob Burton, and although not the overall winner, certainly with a winning smile Nikita Belfon-Hoffman of St. Luke Catholic School holds her certificate up proudly. Graham Paine/Metroland DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com l See PLASTIC, page 46