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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday July 1, 2006 Commentary The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 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 with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Business Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ROD JERRED Managing Editor WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Letters to the editor Tree bylaw trespasses on private property rights The fate and future of a 250-year-old white oak tree will depend on the residents of Oakville raising sufficient funds. The Town of Oakville is not prepared to take steps in its power to preserve this tree. That very same Town Council is proposing a private tree bylaw that would impose fines of up to $50,000 upon individuals who cut-down a tree that they own and that is on their own property. Ward 3 Councillor Keith Bird cast the sole dissenting vote to this absurd proposed bylaw. This proposed private tree bylaw is a bad law despite the precedents of Toronto and Mississauga. The motto of Oakville should clearly be changed to "Do as I say, not as I do"! The green Oakville of today is overwhelmingly the result of the landscaping and gardening efforts of its private citizens. "Green Oakville" does not exist because of actions undertaken by the Town of Oakville or because of the existence of a legislated regime. This condition is acknowledged in staff's report to Council, wherein it states that the majority of trees in Oakville are on private property. These private "greening" activities continue today even as much renovation/rebuilding takes place in "old" Oakville and treeless agricultural land in North Oakville is developed. Anyone willing to walk or take a leisurely drive through Oakville will be persuaded this is the case. The citizens of Oakville have no need for an additional bureaucracy and the additional costs to the private individual, as well as the public purse, that will arise from the contemplated private tree bylaw. The citizens of Oakville have every right to expect a Town Council to act not to abridge their fundamental personal property rights in the absence of compelling reasons of public good. The citizens of Oakville have every right to expect a Town Council to concern itself with the real needs of this community and not to pursue trumped-up and politically motivated issues, as is the case with this private tree bylaw. I trust that The Oakville Beaver will continue to bring this matter of the proposed private tree bylaw to the attention of the citizens of Oakville. The negative response to this proposed action by Town Council, because of its abridgement of fundamental personal property rights, might well make it the defining issue in the November municipal elections. ROLAND H. RIEM RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENA Awards United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION People have priorities mixed up With all due respect, the people behind the campaign to save the 250-year-old white oak in front of the Halton Regional Centre have their priorities all mixed up. Sure, it would be "nice" if the tree could be saved. The problem is that there are countless more important things that could be done with $343,000. How many children's lives could be saved in third-world countries with $343,000? What would the United Way be able to do with that money? How about the Heart and Stroke Foundation or Ian Anderson House? It would be nice to save the tree, but there are a lot more important places to spend that kind of money. Anyone who has enough spare cash to donate to save a tree should send it to their favourite charity instead. DAVID BAZAR Put your feet up, get comfortable, and crack some spines ou've done it, dear readers: you've made it to another summer. No small feat considering all you had to go through just to get here ­ floundering through fall, enduring an endless winter, then stumbling through spring. And now you get your just reward: a few months of deserved sun and fun and, hopefully, rest and relaxation. To assist you in your quest for quality R and R, I present (drum roll, please) my 19th annual offering of superb summer reading -- Books For The Beach, Perfect Prose For The Poolside ­ a recommended reading list that has been known to incite bedlam in bookstores, lunacy in libraries and rioting, or at least reading, in the streets. Hey, it's summer. Turn off those televisions. Pour yourself a tall libation, collapse in a comfy chair, and crack some spines. Salt Water, by Charles Simmons. This brilliant novel opens: "In the summer of 1963, I fell in love and my father drowned..." Okay, Mr. Simmons -- William Faulkner Award winner -- you've got me. A contemporary reworking of Turgenev's classic First Love, this book is small, simple and spellbinding. I've read it twice, so far. On Beauty, By Zadie Smith. An homage to EM Forster's Howard's End, Smith examines class, race and nationality in our Y post-911 world in a novel that is equal measures witty and wise. It was from this tome that I found the following line, which I've borrowed shamelessly ever since: "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." Oh, and this tiny, perfect pearl from Smith's poet-husband, Nick Laird: "Time is how you spend your love..." The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss. A beautiful novel: beautifully conceived, beautifully crafted. Beautiful. And intricate, each page at once revealing and concealing Andy Juniper something ­ each page answering a question and raising one, too. Smart. Significant. Oh, did I mention beautiful? Krauss, 30, and hubby Jonathan Safran Foer, 28, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, are revered (or reviled) as literature's latest young "power" couple. I have yet to read Foer, but Krauss is a keeper. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon. This is a huge book packed with incredible characters, a gripping plot and expansive (and eloquently explored) themes. This is a classic. As The Chicago Tribune gushed: "Chabon is a reader's writer", and (Kavalier & Clay) is replete with "sentences so cozy they'll wrap you up and kiss you goodnight." Also, by Chabon: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. While not in the league of Kavalier & Clay, it is an excellent first novel. Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs. I'd call this a classic comic romp if the content wasn't so damn dark, and the book wasn't so (unbelievably) true. Burroughs' memoir is at times harrowing and at times hilarious. And, finally, a little CanLit ­ offered not because of government regulations on Canadian content, but because CanLit rocks. A Perfect Night To Go To China, by David Gilmour. You've heard the hype, you watched as Gilmour grabbed the Governor General's Award For Fiction. Now, if you haven't already indulged, read it. And while you're at it, pick up anything Gilmour's ever written: the guy's a national treasure; he has not written a bad book, or a sloppy sentence for that matter. That's it, that's all. Remember: keep crackin' those spines. And have a great summer. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.