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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. 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ManagerLetter to the editorCostly promiseG20 impartialWhere's our money?inquiry warrantedThat was our immediate response when we heard the Harper Conservative government had promised to contrib-Re: Call for G20 public inquiry, ute $10 million in federal funds to a planned hospital in Oakvile Beaver, March 16Vaughan.I appreciate Mervyn Russell's Oakville Mayor Rob Burton quickly put out his hand concerns about Oakville MPP Kevin and asked for the same treatment for Oakville, which Flynn's opposing stance on the G20 should break ground this summer on a new $1.5 billion public inquiry.hospital.In fact, I share those same con-After all, what's good for Vaughan is good for Oakville?cerns and I feel puzzled with Flynn's The $10-million gift from the Harper government is a position.clear indication we should expect an election to be called Consider this. There are many next week shortly after the Conservative budget is intro-independent testimonies of mis-duced March 22.treatment at the hands of police The money is a clear attempt to woo voters in Vaughan officers as well as at least one con-to support Julian Fantino, who won a by-election by 1,000 firmed instance of mistreatment. votes. The riding had been a Liberal stronghold until for-We also have video footage of police mer MP Tony Bevilacqua resigned to successfully run for officers bludgeoning seemingly mayor.non-violent protestors with batons, But promising funds for a new hospital in Vaughan, bikes or pepper spray. This same which is only in the preliminary stages, could prove costly footage was displayed internation-to the Conservatives in more ways than one.ally by various media sources, and Currently, there are 33 hospital projects, including so the world has seen some pretty Oakville, listed on the Infrastructure Ontario website in shocking footage. How should various stages of development from pre-tender to substan-Canadians respond?TheOakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations Letters toand grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. tial completion. By the way, the list doesn't include the The answer seems blatantly Letters should be addressed toThe Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4,or viaVaughan hospital.obvious to me: We make an enquiry. e-mail toeditor@oakvillebeaver.com. TheBeaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter.the editorWe imagine the residents and local politicians in the Heck, why wouldn't we? Our civil communities of each of those 33 projects are now going to liberties might have been violated, be looking towards Ottawa for funding.after all. G20 issue is small potatoesAlready the heat is now on Conservative MPs Terence Moreover, we should make it an Re: Call for G20 public inquiry, Oakvile Therefore may I suggest to him and hisYoung (Oakville) and Lisa Raitt (Halton) to come through independent and impartial inquiry Beaver, March 16board, that they should plan as soon as pos-with money for their constituents.since there is now some local and I have a response to the letter written by sible, a trip to Libya, the Middle East,Voters have every right to be upset with the Conservatives global mistrust between the public one Mervyn Russell, on behalf of his Board, Vietnam, China or North Korea, and try toif they try to deem Vaughan as deserving special treatment. and the Canadian government.concerning the G20 issue, and Kevin Flynn's exert their influence on those governmentsWhat's good enough for Vaughan should be good enough Consider my answer. Why would apparent circulation of a statement about concerning the issue of human rights. for Oakville? No matter how they spin it, the Conservatives anyone disagree? that matter.The G20 issue is small potatoes, give itare going to have a tough time convincing Oakville voters It's not as if we could not both I have travelled to many parts of the up, you need to aim for much higher goals.their hospital doesn't deserve the same treatment.respect our police and perform such world in my lifetime, and I want to tell However you may already realize the chal-So by promising $10 million to woo voters in Vaughan, an enquiry. In fact, even if we were Russell and his board that there are very few lenge I have suggested is just too hard forthe pressure is now on the Conservatives to come up with to discover some actual cases of human right issues in this wonderful coun-you.cash for other hospital projects in Ontario and the rest mistreatment, we would still need try of Canada.David Ball, Oakvilleof Canada or run the risk of losing voters in those com-not lose our respect for the police, munities.nor any admiration for them. This promise may win Vaughan for the Harper govern-It's a tough and imperfect job, ment, but it may cost them other ridPud BY STEVE NEASEneasecartoons@gmail.comings, including after all. We could just recognize Oakville and Halton.the mistreatment, deal with it and The Conservatives have created a local election issue then make sure it does not happen which didn't exist before. As we said, this promise could again. This seems to be a reasonable prove very costly for the Harper Conservative govern-answer to me, and it shocks me to ment.hear that Flynn is against this. I don't know about you, but I The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suiteprefer my MPPs to be diehard pre-206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in theservers of my civil liberties.event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, togetherwith 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, March 18, 2011 6