OPINION & LETTERSTHE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:The Oakville BeaverTHE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:Canadian Circulation467 Speers Rd.,Audit Board Member Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 Recognized for Excellence by(905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571ClassiOntario CommunityCanadian Communityfied Advertising: 632-4440 Newspapers AssociationNewspapers AssociationCirculation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays,ATHENASuburban NewspapersAward5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekendsof AmericaEditorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. NEIL OLIVERVice President and Group ROD JERREDManaging EditorMARK DILLSDirector of ProductionUnauthorized use is prohibited.Publisher of Metroland WestDANIEL BAIRDAdvertising DirectorMANUEL GARCIAProduction ManagerThe Oakville Beaver is a division ofDAVID HARVEYRegional General ManagerRIZIERO VERTOLLIPhotography DirectorCHARLENE HALLDirector of DistributionJILL DAVISEditor in ChiefSANDY PAREBusiness ManagerSARAH MCSWEENEYCirc. ManagerLetter to the editorTime to redrawReport ignoredI recently wrote to The Oakvilleelection map Beaver to argue in favor of aninquiry regarding the possibleNow that the federal election is over, the Harper infringements of Canadian civil lib-Conservative government should seriously consider the erties during the G20 summit. issue of electoral riding redistribution, especially in this After my letter was published, Iarea.discovered something quite pertin-The average size of a riding in Canada is meant to be ent to the debate: I discovered thatbetween 100,000 and 105,000 voters.theReport of the StandingThe four ridings in the Region of Halton Oakville, Committee on Public Safety and Burlington, Halton and Wellington-Halton Hills don't National Security addressed thiseven come close to that average.issue in March of 2011. The biggest offender is the riding of Halton, which had 130,026 voters. This sprawling riding encompasses the Not surprisingly, the report sup-municipality of Milton, the area of Oakville north of ports my position.Upper Middle Road and a portion of north Burlington.To see that the report supportsThe Oakville riding has 84,466 voters, while Wellington-my position, consider this.Halton Hills has 82,215 voters and the Burlington riding The report recognizes the G20has only 77,716 voters.summit constitutes the largestBesides its large number of voters, the Halton riding mass arrest during peacetime inis physically large, encompassing all or part of three Canadian history and finds thatmunicipalities separated by rural countryside. The geo-there is no question that errors ingraphical size of the riding makes it a difficult one to the planning of these events, espe-represent. Compounding the problem is that transporta-cially its security operations, con-tion between the three communities is extremely incon-tributed to violations of the rights of venient without a car.many protestors during the sum-The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerationsAnd the Halton riding is growing. The riding includes Letters toand grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. mits.MLetters should be addressed toThe Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via ilton and north Oakville, the two areas responsible for The report concludes that: ae-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. TheBeaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter.the editormost of the region's population growth. Halton is prob-public inquiry is necessary in orderably one of the fastest growing ridings in the country. to shed light on these incidents" andFor instance, in the 2009 federal election, the Oakville Return civility to House of Commonsrecommends that the Governmentriding had 83,752 voters not much less than the num-Ed. note:This letter was addressed to nate these new members into the old cul-of Canada convenes a full judicial,ber of voters in this election. Halton, however, had newly re-elected Oakville MP Terence ture of juvenile squabbling and name-call-independent public inquiry to inves-115,255 voters in 2009 15,000 less than in the May 2 Young.ing would be to lose a great opportunity.tigate the security at the G8/G20election.Isummits, with sufficiently broad would like to offer my sincere congrat-We, in Oakville, would be proud to see We can only imagine what that number will be in four terms of reference to allow it toulations on your success in Monday's elec-you in the forefront of such a move and years when the next federal election is likely to occur.investigate all levels of government,tion.grateful to, once more, send our school-Historically, riding redistribution occurs across the all decision-making processes andWith so many new members (76 being children to witness a respectful question country and takes time. So it would be best to start now all the events that occurred that ledto change the electoral map for the next election.women), this is surely a time to actively period.to property damage, civil rights vio-Although, riding redistribution generally requires seek a new standard of civility and respect in With all best wishes in your new term,lations, and bodily harm, and withformal public hearings and a study, might we suggest the House of Commons. To simply indoctri-Judy Alexander, Oakvillethe power to make recommenda-they simply transfer the Oakville voters from the Halton tions stemming from its findings toriding and include them in a larger Oakville riding. Same thing could be done with Burlington.ensure similar events are neverPud BY STEVE NEASEneasecartoons@gmail.comPerhaps they could even remove the Wellington por-repeated in Canada.tion from Halton Hills and combine it with the remain- Sadly this report was largelying Halton riding.ignored during the federal elec-Hopefully, that would give us three fairly even ridings, tions.within the Region of Halton.And now that Harper has a major-It just makes sense.ity government, I suspect that theGovernment of Canada will not con-The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite duct the recommended inquiry.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 How unfortunate.with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will M. Jordan, Oakvillebe paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.www.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, May 6, 2011 6