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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 W e dn es da y, Se pt em be r 2 9, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 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. Do as I say, not as I do. One must wonder if Premier Dalton McGuinty is aware he sounds like a hypocrite. Cell phones are such a distraction for his colleagues at Queens Park that he refuses to allow them dur- ing meetings. Yet, he blithely suggests students, who should be paying attention to their teachers and studies rather than their text messages, should bring their phones to class. A casual survey of students suggests many already smuggle their cell and smart phones into class- rooms, despite know- ing school rules forbid the practice. Those same stu- dents openly admit to texting their buddies while pretending to absorb what their teachers are saying. Attracting and retaining the interest of pre- teens and teenagers can be hard enough for teachers, many of whom are already struggling with the rapidly changing rules of classroom life. Encouraging the use of such distractions as cell phones in schools can only make the jobs of edu- cators increasingly hard and further fracture the interest of pupils. McGuinty, who can likely afford phones for each of his four children, is part of an elite group of parents who have enough expendable cash to purchase phones and related services for their school-aged offspring. But not every parent falls into the Premiers income bracket. Children whose parents lack the financial abil- ity to buy them cell phones for school use will be easily identified by their peers and likely subject- ed to the cruel taunts for which youngsters are famous. The haves and the have-nots will be readily apparent. McGuintys short-sighted suggestion might make him popular with students, but anyone over the age of 21 should dismiss it as a regrettable slip-of-the-lip. 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 con- dition 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. Letter to the editor No cell phones in the classroom 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 Safety first profits second The Oakville Beaver is a division of Re: Power plant safe says report, Oakville Beaver, Sept. 22. TransCanadas report that was released last week no surprise, it indicates that our residents, schools, daycares and homes are in no calcu- lable danger from the plant if it pro- ceeds. While TransCanada suggests that the key message that it is trying to get out is that the Oakville Generating Station (OGS) is a safe neighbour we are not receiving. Its swell that TransCanada has offered the Town the funding to hire its own independent experts to review the safety report, but I would suggest it spend that money itself and look a little further at some com- parables to include in its report. For example: What was the probability of the Sunrise Propane Plant from explod- ing in August 2008? What was the chance of the Middletown Gas Plant from explod- ing in February 2010? What was the chance of a pipeline exploding in the residential neighbourhood of San Bruno, California earlier this month? Low probability does not mean it never happens. If its the day before a low-probability event occurs, its still statistically, a low probability event. And the day the low probability event happens, it no longer matters what it probability is. So the point should really be that you should not dismiss the possibili- ty because a probability is low, when the impact can be so high and very viable options are available like Nanticoke. No one can guarantee our safety because stuff happens. So please excuse us as we continue our effort to safeguard our community and all the other Ontario communities that could be faced with the prospect of a massive gas plant being planned for their neighbourhood without any requirement for proper safety buffer zones. BRENDA POTTER PHELAN, OAKVILLE Re: Power plant safe says report, Oakville Beaver, Sept. 22 I read with dismay the article on the TransCanada Safety Report and the attempt by safety experts to portray the risks inher- ent in the Oakville Generating Station (OGS) as being so trivial that they are not worthy of any serious consideration what- soever (e.g., the probability of a Ford employee being killed by an accident at the OGS was presented as once in 500 million years). Canadians are still trying to recover from a global financial crisis that was creat- ed in part by mathematical models that were used to develop all sorts of complex mortgage backed securities, credit default swaps and other convoluted derivatives that were supposed to magically reduce risk to such a miniscule level that it could be safely ignored by everybody. Investors bought this libation, the mathematical models proved faulty, the risks did not disappear, billions of dollars of assets and capital were written off, and Wall Street drove Main Street into the ditch. It looks like the same type of mathemat- ical mumbo jumbo is being used again here in Oakville to persuade citizens to for- get common sense, and ignore the reality of the health, safety and environmental risks inherent in building a massive gas- fired power plant on a postage stamp site, fed by high pressure gas pipelines, in the middle of our community so that the perpetrators of this safety myth can earn an annual after-tax profit of nine percent on their $1.2 billion investment for the next 20 years. Our health and safety should not be trumped by their profits. The McGuinty government through its agent the OPA, has put us in this mess. It's high time they get us out of it. JIM GOODFELLOW, OAKVILLE No guarantee against accidents Encouraging the use of such distractions as cell phones in schools can only make the jobs of educators increasingly hard and further fracture the interest of pupils.