A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, April 24, 2002 EDITORIALS AND LETTERS THE OAKVILLE lil;mil! 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6 K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Achertising Director R12IER0 VERTOLU Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director ROD JERREO M anaging Editor MotrnUnfl PnrtW Q ilttattnj &D do ouug Lk l. rcWn fynlWmtQ NrnnA0*nB*r AMonM oraO 'C cule* Mfu ErtorprM Ham, Barm A <tora Barys B ay Ttw W w *. B olton Entwpnw. Brnrrptan G uardun BirHnglcr ftw. B urtngK mSropptngNtwt. C R yPvort C olngw ooiSV M M Q B Correction. East K torw ,E finAihwato' Courtiy Aoula Etobccfce Gunman. Hamtwrougn Post, G *org»to«»»i lrtJ»p«K jB nt/A ctcfi F »»e Press. rtw rtoton Brtw, ftjtono Busnaa Ttnm K ingston T T mW m *. Lm drar lit* W onk M irVuimIconamt 4 Sun, M W tafxV Pw w tanouah**M rnx Mfcn GarutAm Champon. M M on Shopptig N nvo. Moanwuji B usjihb Im» Urscua^ M em . Napaum Gud* '·r^nurVj*' Aorra Era Bjrxw NorVunocrtand M rw s. N dTi tr t Mrcr OoMt Bonw Oatmla 9tipnj tom Oldnm«) Hodtfy !tnn Cr«tt T oday CM «w *W hB >i»\3»W Q ton Pot P»ry The W ee*. O w sn Sound trtww. P»mnajn O D eervtr f'wartcro^ Tt» W w fc. PWai CaKy G uO *. ftcfntnJ fWTtorrtlVaMjrwi Ltw ral. Scartxrough Um» fttuw Farm er voung. Cly < *M fkatVn THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community | ^ | j Newspapers Association O T ^ l H I | i y CamdUn Community S nnjapm Association YM - ~ jS r jv auction StS Fund fcnt/niv n tn f.«T SKV Subuitan Nmopapm of America 4 > rn ^ IM M W lr of 0 * - i Jlnurd Oah'iHt' G S fc - C> -- The 0#n*t. Uhon and DW nd FO ftw s«»< s$ Ex cai0C £ RIAL IST A T K tO A R O (7 /u U fo u / loakvlllt qallerleTI < T ~ ^ S £ jT Volunteers are priceless They are your neighbours, friends, relatives and colleagues. They are selfless, dedicated and energetic peo ple who are vital to keeping this coun try strong. They are. o f course, volunteers who, during this particular week in April, are recognized for their out standing contributions to society. Where would we be without them ? How would the C anadian C ancer Society raise all o f its funds without the men and women who canvass for necessary dollars? The same can be said for the volunteers who assist the Heart and Stroke Foundation, United Way, food bank and the myriad of other organizations, charities and agencies. Oakville Trafalgar Hospital could n 't possibly work effectively without its backbone o f volunteers nor could Halton Regional Police Service. Halton W om en's Place, O akville Public Library and the m useum s. Again, there simply isn't sufficient space here to list each and every group which reaps the benefits o f a volunteer team. And we can't forget the parents who volunteer at their ch ild ren 's school or the men and wom en who think nothing o f spending time with their Little Brothers and Little Sisters. There are volunteers who assist the visually im paired, drive cancer patients to hospital for their treatments and those who pick up the telephone to reach out to a lonely senior. Even our four-footed friends are much better off thanks to the kind individuals who help out at the Hum ane Society. We cannot put a price tag on the services provided by volunteers. Their donation o f time and skills to the com m unities they serve is immeasurable. Think about this for a minute. Without volunteers we w ouldn't be able to enjoy the w onderful Waterfront Festival. Jazz Festival or Santa Claus Parade. And what about all the sports teams who rely on volunteer coaches? The men, women, teens and chil dren who enrich our com m unity by volunteering also enrich their own lives. Anyone who manages to find that spare time to collect donations for the Salvation Arm y or help a young adult leam to read is rewarded with an immense feeling o f satisfac tion. If you volunteer in our community this editorial is for you. We thank you for a jo b well done. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Public education needs more provincial funding (Ed.Note: This letter was addressed to the new Minister of Education Elizabeth Witmer and a copy was sent to the Oakville Beaver for publication.) Congratulations on your appointment to the Ministry of Education, as well as Deputy Premier. We sincerely hope that you will bring a new approach to education in Ontario. We are writing to express our dismay and concern about the lack of adequate funding for Ontario's publicly-funded schools. Over the past several years, we have seen more and more cuts made to funding for our schools. As a school council, we have been forced to fundraise for basics such as library books, computers and science equipment for our stu dents. This is unacceptable. We understand a number of groups have recently made presentations outlining their concerns about funding for education. These groups represent a broad spectrum of respect ed educators and trustees, as well as our own Halton District School Board. Brookdale School Council would like to add our names to the ever-lengthening list of groups and individuals calling on your govern ment to increase funding for our schools. We are particularly distressed by cuts to funding for the following areas: Staff - funding needs to reflect the actual costs of staffing our schools, as well as the tremendous pressures being brought to bear on our school board by retirement allowances. Cuts should not be made to other areas such as textbooks, special teaches and libraries in order to pay salaries and retirement allowances. Special Education - funding has not kept up with inflation of the increase in identified students. In our school, we are aware of one family who is so concerned with the lack of funding for special education for their identi fied child that they are investigating private schools as an alternative. This is not an isolat ed situation and should not be taking place. We should be accommodating all students in our schools and funding should be in place to serve these children. What about the students whose parents cannot afford to look at private schools as an alternative? Transportation - the funding formula has not been adjusted to reflect actual increases in costs for fuel, insurance and buses. School Buildings - school buildings across the province are in disrepair. In addition, many older schools do not have the many amenities found in new schools. Your government funds these amenities in new schools when they are built, but schools such as ours, which was built in 1959. are provided with no monies for these amenities. This is unfair to our students, and other students in older schools, and creates a two-tier education system between new and older schools. Finance Minister Ecker will be delivering her first budget in the spring. With a new pre mier, and a new face to the Ontario Government, this is an ideal opportunity to increase funding to education and present a positive message to parents, students and edu cators across the province. We trust you w ill consider our urgent plea that education be adequately funded in Ontario, and that you w ill provide the neces sary funding to ensure our students can suc ceed. PAM DAMOFF BROOKDALE SCHOOL COUNCIL Small steps needed to clear the air Chief Medical Officer Robert Nosal's report: 'Illness from Air Pollution - A Halton Perspective' (Beaver. April 12), is serious cause for concern. With two-thirds of Canadians affected by degraded air. particularly children and seniors, the situation calls for stringent measures, not to mention a healthy raising of con sciousness. Given the two major sources of air pollution are trans portation and energy production, it behooves any rational society faced with 5.000 deaths per year, and countless more suffering respiratory ailments, to take affirmative action. Reduced dependency on private automobiles and converting fossil fuel power plants to natural gas have become mandatory. Applying pressure on governments to develop co-ordi nated strategies, in and of itself, is insufficient. Each of us must take ownership for the problem by reducing our own contribution. The key lies in rethinking how we gel around. W hile lacking similar convenience and comfort, public transit is infinitely more user-friendly than driving down town Monday to Friday all by your lonesome, or even to the GO station. If we could just convince the Town to create dedicated high occupancy vehicle lanes for our buses, get ting to the train station would be more environmentallyfriendly, as well as quicker. Imagine sitting in gridlock on Trafalgar Road, while bus loads of fellow Oakvillians whisk by to catch the earlier train. Encouraging the Town to paint bicycle lanes on all main arteries, thereby, creating safer cycling conditions, is both inexpensive and efficacious. In the nice weather, one would be encouraged to cycle to the GO station, or, for that mat ter, to the library, store, park or a friend's place. Encourage your children to walk or cycle to school, or walk or cycle with them. Not only are you reducing air pol lution by not driving them, but the exercise w ill do every one a world of good. And as for drive-thrus, make a pact never to use them again. Just think of the staff at these doughnut/coffee shops sucking up car exhaust for the duration of their shift. Really, how long does it take to get out of the car and walk inside? Better yet, why not walk or cycle, and leave the car at home. It starts with small steps. Then again, everything does. If each one of us reduced car use by five per cent per year, think of the impact. Who knows, five may well get you ten. As a final thought... one car-free day a week. PETER D. PELLIER Speak up to save the environment Wow -- what a great week for the environ ment -- and just in time for Earth Day. First, the chair of the province's Smart Growth Panel told an urban affairs conference in Toronto that " municipal councils must no longer allow developers to set much of the housing agenda or they risk more of the same planning disasters that have led to today's jammed roads and sprawling exurbias". This must be heartening for our council who made the brave decision to defy develop er pressure and refer our OPA back for more studies of the moraine and the other signifi cant features despite the developers' threat of an O M B hearing. Next, thanks to over 24.000 letters to U.S. senators. President Bush's plan to drill for oil in environmentally-sensitive lands in the Arctic W ildlife Refuge was toppled. This demonstrates the power of the individual. Twenty-four thousand individuals spoke, and their message got through. Then, the Province's plan to sell Hydro One was squashed when the Superior Court ruled that the Province did not have the authority to proceed with the sale. This victo ry was extra sweet because the people who challenged the government were not expected to win -- even though they were right. Yet, they persevered and beat the odds. This should further empower Oakville politicians and residents who are working to defend our right to plan our Town's destiny. Let's put the power of letter writing, along with the rights of the democratic process together. Oakvillegreen encourages all of the resi dents of Oakville to write a letter to the Premier asking the province for two things: 1. Please preserve all 1,100 acres of provincially-owned farmland in north Oakville as natural parkland. We. as taxpay ers, currently own this land and request that it not be sold to developers. 2. Please postpone the scheduling of an O M B hearing re: OPA 198 until our locally elected government has had a chance to leam more about the lands north of Dundas. We know that some people don't have time to write a letter. To make it easy, we've pre pared two letters which you will find on our Web site: www.oakvillegreen.com. A couple of clicks is all that is required. In addition, Oakvillegreen, in partnership with the South Peel Naturalists, has started a petition to Premier Ernie Eves to request that the 1.100 acres of provincially-owned farm land be preserved. If you're not on e-mail, or would like more information, or want to help with the petition, call 905-847-9990. Please consider taking a few moments, in honour of Earth Week, to speak up on behalf of our little portion of the planet. RENEE SANDELOWSKY OAKVILLEGREEN Pud ' w e l l , it To o k ^ ALi W E E K E N D , i Sorted a n p ^ STORED AU-OUR By STEVE NEASE V, o u R CLOSETS CONTAIN NOTHING > N o t if ic a t io n w a n t e d Bu t i p ip it / lHATs] BuT WARM m i andwmier WEAfflERCLoTHlh)&6 t h in g s / HEY/ G u ess sm \^ ' WHAT? ( 7 (Ed . note: this letter was addressed to the Oakville Cemetery Board and Mayor Ann Mulvale. A copy was given to the Oakville Beaver for publication.) Re: Wreaths on Trafalgar Lawn Cemetery: Can't you notify us in the Oakville Beaver when you are going to take off the wreaths? So many of us are widows without transportation or have been sick. If notified we could get some of the family to lake the wreaths off. the wreaths cost us at least $50 each. You can tell people when there is a change in garbage days, so why not the same respect for us? KAT P E IR S O N