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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , A ug us t 1 3, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. With the slim cushion his party has enjoyed in the polls in recent months now all but gone, it will be interesting to see if Stephen Harpers government will look to refine its position on the mandatory long-form census. We doubt most Canadians had any grievous concerns about the census before the federal government, through Industry Minister Tony Clement, announced weeks ago that the mandatory long-form census would be replaced with a voluntary survey because Canadians found the former intrusive. A large number of groups provinces, municipalities, banks, unions, churches, uni- versities, social agencies and others have found census information invaluable to their decision-making processes. A voluntary survey, they rightfully fear, will be far less reliable as citizens at the top and bottom of the income scale, immigrants and Aboriginal peoples will be less inclined to fill out a survey. A voluntary survey would make the 2011 Census little more than a poll. The Tories claim of switching to a voluntary form to better protect the privacy of Canadians and their concern about the threat of jail for not filling out a mandatory survey is laughable. Surely, no one believes the federal govern- ments utmost concern about the census is the protection of Canadians privacy. And while a six-month jail term is included in the Statistics Act, no one has ever been incarcerated for refusing to fill out a census form. Nor would they be. The Tories picked this fight with StatsCan a government agency that has faced numerous cuts for decades, but which provides countless groups with invaluable information about our country and its citizens for reasons known only to themselves. Right now it is a fight the Tories are losing with the general public and they are likely to find that is an opponent who is tough to beat. Media Group Ltd. The Oakville Beaver is a division of NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager 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 advertise- ment will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editorWinning votes Transit not paying off A recent letter writer observed that the Towns publication Lets Talk Oakville appeared to contain only success stories. In one of the articles the mayor states that Oakville Transit implemented new routes and was enticing more people to ride the bus. The result of this expansion of service, we are advised, is a four per cent increase in ridership. The Oakville Beaver, July 30, 2010 (Town Driving dollars into Oakville Transit) reports that the mayor has announced that Oakville Transit has again increased ridership; this time by five percent year over year. No measurement of the increased mileage serviced or per bus capacity is provided for com- parison. Information on the Towns web site shows there were 114 bus drivers last year and the article reports that this has increased by 48 that is a 42 per cent increase. A five percent increase in rider- ship compared with substantially higher increases in the number drivers, vehicles (23 buses) and routes serviced can hardly be claimed as a success. The mayor is quoted as saying that investment (political speak for spending of tax dollars) on trans- portation will increase this year. The Towns web site has: A chart which shows that just over 10 per cent of the Towns tax revenue is spent on transportation. A report from the Transit Department that projects an oper- ating expense of $5.50 per passen- ger, operating costs per vehicle, per hour of $78 while revenue per vehi- cle, per hour is $1. From this it would appear Oakville taxpayers are getting, and will continue to get, a very poor return on their investment. Although the expansion of the transit operations was due to the Town accessing federal stimulus funds, it seems that this is a gift that keeps on giving and an experiment that requires immediate attention before its costs overwhelm the fiscal stability of the Town. D. M. POLLARD, OAKVILLE THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America As members of a grassroots organiza- tion that supports transportation that is environmentally, socially and economi- cally sustainable, GreenTrans members encourage Oakville residents to get around by walking, biking, taking transit and carpooling whenever possible. During the past year, Town Council has begun to make some major improve- ments in Oakville Transit, offering improved alternatives for personal mobility. New grid routes now provide faster trips across Oakville and new bus shel- ters make those trips more comfortable. Give Oakville Transit a chance Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com For more letters to the editor see pages 8 and 9 See It page 9