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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, February 28, 2014 | 6 He is forward thinking, a visionary if you will, and he knows precisely when to act for our own good. He is vocal in his beliefs and innovative in his approach. He is political when needed and communityminded always. While he may not be a household name to all Halton residents, Dr. Bob Nosal -- Halton Region's Commissioner and Medical Of cer of Health -- has served all of us well as the region's leader in health care. But the good doctor has decided the time is right to retire. We will sorely miss him for so many reasons. He placed West Nile virus on the media's radar long before anyone else. He made Dr. Bob Nosal us roll up our sleeves for u shots, especially during the H1N1 crisis in 2009. (He must have been proud seeing those long lineups at the region's vaccination clinics.) He was the calm in the storm of the SARS outbreak, he challenged us to think about air and water quality, mental health and substance abuse issues, underage smoking, and just about any other healthrelated problem that emerged during his 25 years of service to Halton residents. Dr. Nosal is quietly con dent in everything that he does. Perhaps that is why when he spoke people listened. They may not have liked what he said, or mightily disagreed with his stance, but they always knew where they stood. He garnered respect for his insight, leadership skills and ability to produce top-quality programs including our top-performing paramedic service. As the accolades poured in, Dr. Nosal was quick to heap praise on his staff and colleagues. "To all the staff at Halton and in particular those in the health department, I must say thank you. You are professional, hardworking, passionate and leading the way for best practice in your respective elds. Halton is in good hands," said Dr. Nosal. But the retiring MOH has to know that it has been his guiding hands that put Halton Region on the map when it came to enviable public health care. Dr. Nosal is also an extremely caring individual. Indeed, when two staffers from Metroland Media Group wrote about their diagnosis of cancer and ensuing struggles with treatment, Dr. Nosal supported them with on-going words of encouragement. So, on behalf of the residents of Halton, thank you Dr. Bob for your commitment, dedication, passion and a desire to get the job done, and done well. Enjoy your retirement. Thank you, Dr. Bob Editorial S H A R I N G T H E W "Connected to your Community" I N 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 52 | Number 26 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN Julia and Emma Mogus recently donated ve cartons, approximately 120 boxes, of Shreddies cereal to the Fareshare food bank, represented by volunteer co-ordinator Ron Ziegel (middle). As one of the top ve nalists in the Shreddies Search for Goodness contest, the pair was asked where they would like to donate their winnings and they chose the local food bank. The rst place winner of the contest will be announced Monday (March 3). | photo courtesy Janet Mogus RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS Postal service adapts with the times Terence Young Oakville MP My View MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager T he Internet is replacing letter mail and, since 2006, Canadians are sending a billion fewer letters a year. And the trend is headed straight down. What was done by letter mail, such as personal correspondence, paying bills, banking, paying taxes and ordering goods and services is increasingly done on the Internet, at lower cost. You can buy almost anything with online shopping. Without a change, Canada Post is on track to lose a billion dollars a year by 2020 due to its demise. Canada's federal budget will be balanced next year, after a dif cult process of examining everything our government does, and looking at ways to do it better and cheaper. Conservatives do not view government spending as the government's money. It's your money. We don't believe you would want to pay a billion dollars a year to send mail carriers to every home with less and less mail, when community mailboxes can suf ce. In the 1950s, our house in Etobicoke had a remnant of a previous era, a little square door down low by the side door for the milk man to drop milk every day. That was from the days when people had ice boxes. In the 1960s, we moved to St. Anne's Parish Rectory in Toronto, which had a window behind the garage that opened to a coal chute, another facility made obsolete by new technology. Letter mail is quickly becoming just as obsolete. I remember at our house in Glen Abbey almost 30 years ago when community mailboxes were introduced in new developments in Oakville. People quickly adapted. Oakville has been chosen as one of the rst 10 communities in Canada to change over the remaining households to community mailboxes. This is because Canada Post already has a well-established process to get mail to the comsee Moving on p.7 Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: 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, 5040 Mainway, Burlington ON L7L 7G5 or via e-mail to; ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. 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.