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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 26 ,2 02 2 | 10 oakville.ca NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING DEVELOPMENT CHARGES BY-LAW Monday, June 20, 2022 Oakville Town Council will hold a public meeting, pursuant to section 12 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, as amended, to present and obtain public input on the municipality's proposed development charges (D.C.) by-law and underlying background study. Development charges are levied against new developments, and are a primary source of funding growth-related capital expenditures in the town such as new and widened roads, park development, recreation and library facilities, transit fleet and infrastructure and fire protection facilities and fleet. A public meeting of Council will be held on June 20, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. Due to COVID-19, attendance at Town Hall is restricted and public meetings are being held by videoconference only, and are live streamed on YouTube (youtube.com/TownofOakvilleTV). For instructions on how to view the meeting or participate by written submission, videoconference or telephone please contact the Clerk's Department at TownClerk@ oakville.ca or 905-815-6015 by no later than noon, June 20, 2022. In order that sufficient information is made available to the public, the background study and proposed D.C. by-law are available on the town website oakville.ca (type "Development Charges" in the search tool). After the public meeting, Council may choose to adopt the background study and the proposed by-law on July 12, 2022. tempted to implement the policy. Four delegations that includ- ed parents, a current student, a physician and a reverend pre- sented in opposition to the mo- tion. There were no delegations in support of Karabela's motion. Burlington trustee Tim O'Brien ultimately voted in favour of the motion but did not speak in fa- vour of it during debate. Student Kirsten Kelly argued that restricting charity work to only groups that people agree with is contrary to Catholic teachings. "I think that this directly con- tradicts Catholic values that we were taught from a young age, that we should help everyone re- gardless. You can't just say, 'Oh, I'm going to help this person be- cause they follow the same values as me.' That's redundant and con- tradictory," said Kelly. The motion stated that no school fundraising efforts could be directed to an organization or its subsidiaries, affiliates or asso- ciates that in any way supports or is involved with abortion or em- bryonic stem cell research. Char- ities that could be included under that label include Toronto's Hos- pital for Sick Children, as well as the Canadian Cancer Society and Halton Women's Place. Karabela argued that they have a duty to ensure not a single dollar of the board's fundraising go toward organizations that don't uphold the sacredness of life. "Catholics have a moral duty to defend and protect the sanctity of life. As society's morals erode further away from our Judeo- Christian foundations, it is ever more important to be vigilant in making sure that donations from HCDSB go to organizations that uphold the sanctity of life. This motion does not restrict charity. It prioritizes charity for the un- born, who are defenceless. True charity doesn't kill," said Karabe- la. The "Sanctity of Life" policy originally passed in February, 2018. It led to student protests, a court case against the board, months of debate and even con- demnation from a former educa- tion minister before it was ulti- mately quashed by trustees later that year. Student trustee Katie Bowie argued that such a policy could put an end to well-liked and ongo- ing students campaigns in sup- port of organizations like the Ca- nadian Cancer Society. "Our students care about these causes. It's incredibly im- portant to them and the work that they do. It's an opportunity for them to use what they learn in our Catholic schools to do good in their community. So, I can say with certainty that students are unequivocally opposed to this motion and that it is not in the best interest of their school expe- riences," said Bowie. Karabela referred to the HCDSB's graduate expectations document in her argument. "One of our graduate expecta- tions is to form a student who, quote: 'that gives witness to Cath- olic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and the sacredness of human life'. The sanctity of life recognized from conception to natural death is a tenet of our Catholic faith and is non-negotia- ble," Karabela said. Milton trustee Patrick Mur- phy questioned the motivation behind bringing such a motion to the board table once again. He said students raise money for nu- merous vetted charities and there is no evidence the board is raising funds intentionally to support abortion. Karabela said she decided to bring this motion forward now because, "I can, and I represent stakeholders." The motion was defeated by a five-to-two vote with trustees Pe- ter DeRosa, Janet O'Hearn-Czar- nota, Nancy Guzzo, Brenda Ag- new, and Murphy successfully voting against the motion. Karabela and O'Brien voted in favour. The three student trustees al- so voted against the motion. STORY BEHIND THE STO- RY: With a proposed return to the "Sanctity of Life" policy coming before the Halton Catholic Dis- trict School Board, we wanted to share how students and trustees feel about the issue that's been a source of emotionally charged debate for years. NEWS POLICY WOULD HURT FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS: STUDENT TRUSTEE Continued from front Trustee Patrick Murphy was among those who voted against the Sanctity of Life fundraising policy. Graham Paine/Metroland "Catholics have a moral duty to defend and protect the sanctity of life." - trustee Helena Karabela SCAN THIS CODE for more local news.