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A6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, June 25, 2003 EDITORIALS AND LETTERS THE OAKVILLE HEAVER IAN OLIVER Publisher NHL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Ad\'ertising Director STEVE CROZ1ER Circulation Director 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager ROD JERRED M a n a g in g Editor RIZIERO VERTOLU Photography Director UMmMffd PnmnQ. PuOWmg & OMrtugrg i u . n c u ta N nn a a w w b . A M m h b m O m w , Enterprise Nows. Barm Advance. Barry's Bay Tits Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardan. Burlington Post. Burtngton Shopping Nows, C»y Purwit. Ccilngwood/WaBoon Comedton. Lo t 'itnk MWor. Erin Aitoxate/Cou*y Rouws. Etotxo*u> Guardian FlamOorough Post Georgetown magparetantr'Acton Fr« Proas, Homston Review, Hurontt Busmen nmss, Kjngrtan The Week. Lindsay TNs WeeK MnVftom [conorrel & Sun MdUn&PervtjnguBtuie Vurcr. Milton Canadian Champion, Mlton Shopping News, Mssissauga Business Times, Mtssssauga News. Napuneo Giads, Nowmortnt/Aurcrj Era Banrwr, Nor1hun»eriand News. North vtrv Mnor OaMb Boavw. Oakv*e Shopping OohnwaWNtty/annngtnn Port Parry The V W i. Oven Sound rntuno. Palmerston OUerwr. Putwtwough THe Week, rtdon County Gufcfe. Richmond WThorr#»tfYa»jghan LAeral Scarborough Mnw. StoufMWJttrttot Mburw. Forever toung, C»y o* >to»k Guardan THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL M EDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association H alton Hcalthcarc < tl TN »i l T i m n | oakvllle galleries") ^ 0 Jk& M F und C fc tc J fin U O a ^ U jU / l / i CanacSan Community Newspapers Association . © \j»«no M j^xunf O OftKih « h > itt$ & 4 w o tik R»eusiNessexcciuNcc W fc L C O M F .^ P t " i n n i tr» OAKVILLE W agon * ~ h o t *»VI G TVw © C E f e J H k Suburban Newspapers 5 9 1 ^ A °* *n*rtG> TV AUCTION U M a tftoy tt OatariUe TT n»c M A I I S T A T I BO A R D p im if . L IB R A R Y n The sniping has begun If the recent sniping between the provincial Tories and Liberals over their respective advertising cam paigns is any indication, the next provincial election has all the ear marks of being one of the dirtiest in recent memory. Not to mention silliest. The Tories recently launched their slick new television ads which featured a smiling family, two seniors and a young couple all extolling the virtues of the Tories plan to ban teachers' strikes, limit ing mortgage interest deductibility and giving property tax credits to seniors. Unfortunately for the PCs, Liberal researchers discovered the happy faces in the ads belong to Americans. It seems the Toronto ad agency the Tories used pulled stock photos without checking where the models were from. O f course, the Liberals were quick to try to make political hay from this "issue," questioning Tory competency and suggesting previ ous ads that highlighted Premier Ernie Eves had turned voters off. Not to be outdone, the Tories wasted no time poring over Liberal advertising literature and came up with a photo featuring an American fisherman. The giveaway? The man had six lines in the water, which is illegal in Ontario where the Fishing Act allows for only one line per angler. O f course it could have been a Canadian fish erman choosing to ignore the law, but we digress. Correct us if we're wrong, but an election hasn't even been called. Is it really necessary to bombard the poor suffering electorate with these ads months before we get to go to the polls? And, more to the point, are both parties so desperate to one-up the other that they have to stoop to "American-style" campaigning where cheap shots and name-calling are preferred campaign meth ods as opposed to just stating what each party's platform is? Can the politicians please focus on more important issues out there like the immense hardships caused by S ARS, our overburdened health care system and out-of-control insurance rates? Gleefully arguing over the nationality of the models used in advertising campaigns is ridicu lous. / We expect this type of childish behaviour from kids in a sandbox, not from our political leaders. LETTERS Til THE EDITOR i :i : hi tiii : wi;i ;k Landowners refute Clear the Air Coalition letter In his recent response to TRCA president Chris Stoate's letter regarding OPA 198 and the upcoming OMB hearing, Rob Burton of Clear the Air Coalition sets out to correct Mr. Stoate's facts (The Beaver , June 4). With respect, Mr. Burton's recounting of the "facts" regarding the events surrounding Oakville council's eventful adoption of an amended OPA 198 in May 2002 is misleading and, in some cases, incorrect. In 1999 the Region approved the lands in OPA 198 for urban grovtth. The Planning Act states that the Town has one year within which to bring the land into con formity with the Regional Plan. Should it not do so, others can step in and do the job for them. It is fair to say that since 1999 the Town has been considering how to bring these lands into the urban fold. Various committees have been formed and ratepayer participation has been extensive. The landowners were also inte grally involved in this process. It has not been an easy process. The Planning Act also allows for an application to be pealed to the OMB 90 days after it has been filed if the Town hasn't dealt with it. The landowners could have filed applications after the Region approved these lands for develop ment. They didn't. They let the process of dialogue unfold. They did not use this mechanism until early in 2002 when it became abundantly clear that the sides in this debate had become polarized and that no universal consensus was possible. An OMB hearing was inevitable. The Town adopted OPA 198 in May 2002. The developers could have appealed in 1999. They did n't. The OMB waited close to a year after the developers filed their appeals before setting the initial pre-hearing date in January 2003. The landowners have actively worked with the Town and its stakeholder and technical commit tees prior to the adoption of OPA 198, after the adoption and will continue to try to achieve consen sus where possible. The issues between the Town and the landowners at the board are very limited. The hearing would be quite short if it were restricted to these two parties. Both of these parties respect the need for balance between urban living and the environment. Whose board hearing is it? Is it appropriate to lay the blame at the feet of the landowners? They are certainly an easy target. However, consider the facts. Oakville Green and Clear the Air Coalition also filed appeals of OPA 198 and are very active parties to the OMB hearing having raised many issues that go to the root o f whether these lands should ever be developed. With respect, this decision has already been made. It is not irre versible in this process. We need to accept these facts and move on to the real issues of property bal ancing the two objectives of urban living and environmental conser vation. This hearing is now projected to last at least three months. It will cost the taxpayers of the Town in excess o f a million dollars. The largest amount o f the resources being invested in this process is to answer the questions being raised by Clear the Air and Oakville Green. The Town is defending its decision regarding OPA 198 against these two organ izations at the OMB. Let's just make sure that those who are supporting Clear the Air and Oakville Green have the facts straight. LYNDA J. TOWNSEND RENAUD VICE PRESIDENT NORTH OAKVILLE MANAGEMENT INC. Land announcement doesn't make sense I was there at the announcement/protest in Lions Valley Park on June 13. I neither jeered with the protesters nor cheered with the town cheering squad. I just stood there trying to make sense of it, and I still haven't. First of all. I'm surprised about how the event happened. I've never been to anything like this before. Is it normal for only a small handful o f supporters to be officially informed of the event? I heard by rush e-mail the night before, "Come to Lions Valley Park on Friday! We've just found out about this big announcement." Then there's the content of the announcement itself. I think everyone agrees that having 420 acres o f environmen tally sensitive land in public ownership is a good thing. I heard Minister Tsubouchi say that there has been no decision made yet on the remaining land. However, I heard our mayor state that. "This is the best deal we could get," implying that the rest of the land will be sold off to developers. Has or hasn't a decision been made? I also heard the mayor state that she speaks for "the majority of Oakville residents." I don't think she. nor I. nor anyone else at this point, knows what the majority of Oakville residents think. It's just months before provincial and municipal elections. I am saddened to hear a big announcement like this com ing just before residents do have a chance to voice their opin ion. I hope the decision on the remaining land waits until after those elections. I'm also really confused as to how a big provincial announcement on lands north of Dundas can be made while the town is in the midst of an Ontario Municipal Board hear ing on those very lands. It just doesn't make sense. LISA SEILER All government levels must work together to secure investment for Ford Recent media coverage regard ing a potential investment by Ford in its Oakville m anufacturing operations is generating a lot of excitement about the long-term future of this facility, and the jobs that depend on it. Reports suggest that Ford is considering the production of new SUV models, alongside the cur rent mini van, after the whole com plex is modernized with new tech nology. The economic benefits of this type of expansion would be huge, not just for CAW members at Oakville (who have demonstrated their commitment through high quality and productivity), but also for the whole regional economy which depends on this complex. But there are a lot of bridges to cross before this potential invest ment can become a reality. An expanded operation, producing a range o f vehicles with flexible assembly technology, would create or protect thousands of direct jobs, and generate tens of thousands of spin-off jobs. It won't happen, how ever, unless all stakeholders -- including government -- work together to make it happen. The reality of the current North American economy is that govern ments have to play a role in lever aging major new investments like this one. Canada's productivity and cost competitiveness are great assets. But they alone can't offset the huge subsidies being offered for new plants in places like Alabama and Mississippi. Our federal and provincial govern ments need to play a role, along with Ford, the CAW, and auto sup pliers, in making sure this invest ment happens. For example, the Ontario gov ernment recently announced a new fund to support auto invest ments. But no-one knows how it will work; even Ford doesn't know if it will get a single dollar from the fund to support its mas sive potential investment. C anada's auto industry has taken some severe blows in recent years, with plant closures and a failure to win our share of new investment. Governments at all levels need to move quickly to make sure this potential investment doesn't fall through the cracks, like so many projects before it. JOHN TEIXEIRA PRESIDENT, CAW LOCAL 707 Mayor, minister treated rudely by protesters On Friday June 13, having heard on the radio that the Province would be assuring that at least 40 per cent of environmentally-sensitive Oakville Land Assembly lands would be kept protected and out of the hands of developers, I was delighted. As has often happened, it could have gone to the Ontario Municipal Board and we might have lost it all to developers. I would imagine most of the protesters are living on lands which I remember as beautiful farms and open space. Whether, or not. this is the best scenario, I am not well enough informed to say. However, I am terribly embarrassed to see in the Weekend edition of the Oakville Beaver that our mayor and a Minister of the Government were so rudely treat ed during the official announcement. The article states that the ultimate fate of the remaining acres has not been finalized, but I can't imagine Management Board of Cabinet Chair David Tsubouchi having much sym pathy during future deliberations after being shown such dis respect. S.CUDMORE The OakvOe Beawr is a member of the Ontario Press Coundl. The coundl Is located at 80 Could St. Suite 206, Toronto, Ont. MSB 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, togeth er with a reasonable allowance lor signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid lor at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or dedine. Pud IHAVE TO LEAVE '\ I HAVE SO MUCH h er e !s a lis O RjR WORK EAR tf TO DO IFIWAWT OF THlhi&S I - m is TO PICKUPMRX NEED R>R MY AT 7\ ( SCIENCE FRfflECT. ON TIM E/ CAM YOU PICK ' 'EM UP? OH, By STEVE NEASE YEAH, i MOM