Oakville Beaver, 26 Oct 2007, p. 8

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

8- The Oakville Beaver, Friday October 26, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Grassroots letter writing can make an impact By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF What can an Oakville-based human rights group do to help political dissidents suffering a world away? Apparently quite a bit. Amnesty Oakville, the Oakville chapter OAKVILLE - Celebrating 150 years! NOTICE OF STUDY COMPLETION 2007 Operating and Capital and Rehabilitation s Wedgewood Creek Reaches 59/60 Stabilization Budget Monday, March 26, 200 7 Class Environmental Assessment 7:30 p.m. - C ouncil C hambers, Town Hall - 1225 Trafal gar Road The Town will Oakville intends toOperating and Capitalwork to address the Council of consider the 2007 undertake remedial Budgets as problem of erosion and creek Budget of Wedgewood Creek from the upstream recommended by the 2007 stability C ommittee on Monday, March 26 limit C ouncil C hambers. in of the Morrison-Wedgewood Diversion Channel to Grand Boulevard (see map). The study has been undertaken to develop, evaluate and recommend Anyone wishin g to appear as a dele gation must re gister with the preferred alternatives for the stabilization and rehabilitation of the creek Clerk's Offi ce at 905.338.4235 by 12 noon on Monday, March 26, 2007. channel and banks, along with possible flood/flow control improvements along Delegations will have a maximum of of minutes to address 10 the pedestrian bridge and staircase C ouncil. Wedgewood Creek. Replacement C opiesoftheBudgetdiscussiondocumentareavailableontheTown's system was also included as part of this study. A set of alternative solutions has been evaluated and a preferred solution presented for comment.located onand website at www.oakville.ca and in the Finance De partment Agencies stakeholders d floor at Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar R oad between in thea.m. the secon which have provided comments and participated 8:30 study include4:30 p.m. and Conservation Halton, landowners adjacent to the creek block, and neighbourhood residents who use the trails. Written submissions for C ouncil's consideration may be sent, prior to the meetin g, to the Town Clerk, Town of Oakville, 1225 Trafal gar Road, Members of the public are invited to provide written comments on this matter @oakville.ca . to Oakville, L6J 5A6 or byor its consulting engineer, Philips Engineering Ltd., by the Town of Oakville email to townclerk November 26, 2007 (contact information can be found at the bottom of this notice). The study was completed in compliance with Schedule `B' of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (June 2000) process. A Project File Report has been prepared and is available for review at the following locations: Town of Oakville Engineering and Construction Department 1225 Trafalgar Road Oakville, ON Mon ­ Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Town of Oakville Library Central Branch 120 Navy Street (corner of Lakeshore Road and Navy Street) Oakville, ON Mon ­ Thurs: 9:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Fri ­ Sat: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sun: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. If concerns regarding this project cannot be resolved through discussions with Town of Oakville, you may request that the Minister of the Environment order the project to comply with Part II of the Environmental Assessment Act (referred to as a "Part II Order"). Requests for a Part II Order must be received by the Minister in writing at the following address: Minister of the Environment 135 St. Clair Avenue West, 12th Floor Toronto, Ontario M4V 1P5 A copy of the request must also be sent to the Town of Oakville's Project Leader (see contact information below). If no request is received by November 26, 2007, the Town of Oakville intends to proceed with the detailed design and construction of this project. Contact Information Ms. Kristina Laretei, P.Eng., Project Leader, Water Resources Engineer Town of Oakville 1225 Trafalgar Road, P.O. Box 31 Oakville, Ontario L6J 5A6 Phone: 905-845-6601 ext. 3889 Fax: 905-338-4159 Email: klaretei@oakville.ca Mr. Ron Scheckenberger, M. Eng., P. Eng., Project Engineer Philips Engineering Ltd. 3215 North Service Road, P.O. Box 220 Burlington, Ontario L7R 3Y2 Phone: 905-335-2353 Fax: 905-335-1414 Email: rscheckenberger@philipseng.com This notice first issued October 26, 2007. For more information visit www.oakville.ca or call 905-845-6601 of Amnesty International, has set its sights on the military regime of Burma as its next target for humanitarian action. The country, commonly referred to as Myanmar, captured global attention in late September when the regime violently cracked down on pro-democracy protests leaving between dozens and hundreds dead, depending on which side tells the story. As front and centre as these events are in the world's consciousness, Amnesty Oakville is seeking to right a wrong which took place much earlier when political activist Daw May Win Myint was arrested in 1994. "She was arrested, convicted and sentenced to a six-year prison term, which they renew every year," said Wendy Belcher, Amnesty Oakville chair. "So, she has already served the original prison term." Win Myint's problems began in 1990 when the current military regime decided to undergo a flirtation with democracy. Elections were allowed, but when Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party won, the generals decided to disallow the election and place Suu Kyi under house arrest. Win Myint was arrested four years later when she organized a protest, which called for Suu Kyi's release. Now the people of Amnesty Oakville are coming to her aid. "What we've been doing is sending postcards to different countries that trade with Burma as well as to our Foreign Affairs Minister to let him know that we'd like some pressure put on that government," said Belcher. Having recently come into possession of a Burmese general's address, Amnesty Oakville is also calling on the people holding Win Myint to release her. "After they moved the capital from Rangoon to the centre of the jungle, nobody had addresses. We didn't know who they were or where they were," said Belcher. "But, now we do have an address and we're now having petitions signed asking them to recognize the human rights of their own people and to release their prisoners of conscience, including ours." Belcher intends to mail these petitions to the general in hopes he will receive and act on them. With the military junta in power so opposed to democracy that it is willing to open fire on demonstrating Buddhist monks, it is difficult to see how Amnesty Oakville's benign tactics could bring about any kind of result. However, despite the obvious obstacles, Amnesty Oakville has seen consistent success in its humanitarian efforts since the "Our group has had 16 prisoners of conscience and they've all been freed much to our delight." Wendy Belcher, chair, Amnesty Oakville organization was created in 1981. "Our group has had 16 prisoners of conscience and they've all been freed much to our delight," said Belcher. "We have been very fortunate because some groups have been working for prisoners for 10-12 years and there's been no change or the prisoner has been executed." While government changes in Indonesia and East Germany resulted in the freedom of two prisoners, Belcher chalks up the release of others to grassroots writing, which she points out was not the sole work of Amnesty Oakville. "I don't think it would be specifically Oakville making the difference, but the combined letter-writing campaign, because "By the time they got 3,000 letters the governor of the jail said, `Get him out of here, he's too much trouble.'" Wendy Belcher, chair, Amnesty Oakville usually there are a few groups around the world that have that same prisoner," she said. "One story that's always told is of a prisoner and how the first letters got him better food, the second group of letters got him better clothing and by the time they got 3,000 letters, the governor of the jail said, `Get him out of here, he's too much trouble.'" Belcher says the letter writing campaign is all about inconvenience and that if those holding Win Myint or any other prisoner can be made to see that a lot of people care about that person's situation and are willing to write until they are freed, these jailers may decide that that person was less bothersome when they were outside prison. If the Burmese general Amnesty Oakville is writing to proves resistant to this approach, the humanitarian group has other ways of making Win Myint's imprisonment a bother to the Burmese government. The postcards, which are being sent to Burma's trading partners, are one way Amnesty Oakville is trying to increase the Burmese government's discomfort. "If you have countries such as India, China, Australia and New Zealand, who are in fact trading with Myanmar, if they start putting pressure, if our own government starts putting pressure, then it becomes more inconvenient for that government to not release at least some of its prisoners," said Belcher. Because the process of getting a prisoner released from jail is an involved one, which often takes many years, receiving news from a prisoner is a cause for joy that goes beyond celebration. "The first time I got a letter from a prisoner, because I was the one who wrote the prisoner and the prisoner wrote back, I think people all over Oakville could have heard me, I was so excited," said Belcher. "It's just a wonderful feeling when the prisoner can respond to us or when the prisoner has been released." Belcher notes that whether a prisoner will be able to respond to letters depends on their particular situation, as some jailers will allow their prisoners to receive and send letters while some will not. "The prisoner that we had in India was a lawyer and we were able to write to him in jail and he wrote back, which was just so touching," said Belcher. "This was in the '80s and he had been arrested time and time again for organizing marches. He believed he would be in jail forever, but he wrote back to us and then he wrote again when he got out." A similar back and forth with Win Myint is not expected. "We are not writing to our prisoner in Myanmar," said Belcher. "We've been told that it is not possible and it is not safe." With so much injustice and suffering in the world, the urge to keep another person's degradation out of sight and out of mind has proven overpowering for many, however, for Belcher even a small gesture makes all the difference in the world. "One of our slogans is that it's better to light just one candle than curse the darkness. It's an old Chinese proverb and it really is true," she said. "Be it ever so small, it is better to do something than nothing." Amnesty Oakville is holding its annual fundraiser and Art Auction on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Anglican Church of the Incarnation located at 1240 Old Abbey Lane. Anyone who wants to become involved in Amnesty Oakville may attend the group's meetings, which take place on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Anglican Church of the Incarnation. For more information call Wendy Belcher at 905-844-4194.

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy