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A6 -The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, December 8, 2004 Opinion & Letters tin: oarville beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. IAN OLIVER P u b lis h e r TERI CASAS O f f ic e M a n a g e r NEIL OLIVER .\ s s o c ia te P u b lis h e r MANUEL GARCIA P r o d u c t io n M a n a g e r JILL DAVIS E d it o r in C h ie f RIZIERO VERTOLLI P h o t o g r a p h y D i r e c t o r ROD JERRED M a n a g in g E d it o r KELLY MONTAGUE A d v e r t is in g D i r e c t o r CHARLENE HALL D i r e c t o r o f D is t r ib u t io n ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN O r e . M a n a g e r DANIEL BAIRD .A d ie r t is m g M a n a g e r THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Msmnt n d u d t t A fu /P icka m g Mew* Adw rtear. AteJon HcraWCounc*. A m * * Enterprise B a rr* A ftnnco. Brampton Guardan. 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Cty d ttx x Guordun Recognized for Excellence by 1 Ontario Community Newspapers Association « A Canadian Community Newspapers Association ^ H aiton Healthcare O A K V IL L E 1oakvllle galleries | t fu M 0 N T A $ 1 fa u J > I O Bdtfund I 1 ATHENA 9 1 ^ Suburban Newspapers 4 of America TV AUCTION M A w a r d ^ The Oakville. M illo n Y vmca H M H --- M /> £ = * . Do you know a special coach? Last month we introduced a new feature in called Teacher of the Month. We've had such positive feedback from that feature, and enjoyed it so much, that we are adding a similar award called Coach of the Month. Coaches, like teachers, play a prominent role in our children's lives. Most of them are volunteers. They're usually the first ones on the ice -- or field, or court -- and are likely the last ones to leave. They take time out from their busy schedules and their families to spend time with our children -- teaching them skills to improve themselves both on and off the play ing field. W in or lose, they teach our ch il dren how to enjoy themselves. W ithout them, m inor sports would not exist in Oakville. We have always thought Oakville's minor sports coaches were special and now we want to thank them for The Oakville Beaver all their valuable work. But we need your help. Like the Teacher of the Month promotion, the Coach of the Month w ill be selected from our readers' nominations. Local team members (and their parents) in any sport are invited to submit their nominations for Coach of the Month. One coach w ill be chosen each month, and they w ill receive a pizza party for the team -- on us. In addition, the w ill run an article on the winner, along with the team photo. Submissions should include the coach's name, the team and division name, and why they make playing the game something special. Suggestions can be e-mailed to nnelson@haltonsearch.com or dropped off at the offices, 467 Speers Rd., L6K 3S4. We look forward to receiving your nominations. Oakville Beaver' s The Beaver Oakville Beaver Letters to the editor The welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and gram m ar. In order to be published all letters m ust 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-m ail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com.The reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Oakville Beaver Beaver Greenbelting cuts farmers' retirement packages by 50% The preservation of prime farmland for farming purposes is exactly what Bert and Laurie Andrews have been doing for the past 25 years. If farming on our land can be maintained as viable, this is exactly what will continue whether it is us or someone else who is farming our land. We are very disappointed with the Town of Haiton Hills and subsequently the Region of Haiton. Pushing an additional 4,000 acres into the greenbelt area at the 11th hour without any consultation with farmers or rural landowners, who are negatively impacted, is dictatorial and undemocratic. Other farmers who were affected by the first draft, as well as ourselves now, have not been informed of the criteria used in this whole process and this too is unjust. We operate Andrew's Scenic Acres and Scotch Block Winery. We did not inherit our farm, but purchased it at the market value in 1980 from a speculator. It was a derelict property and over 25 years we have built this business from scratch during enduring crop failures, weather, high inter est rates, taxation issues, escalating costs and other calamities too numerous to men tion. How did we do it? We worked seven days a week, 14 to 18 hours on many days. This was all without the benefit of weekends off, summer holidays and other normal sum mer recreation. Most people take this all for granted but our few treasured breaks over the last 25 years have been very few and far between. How did we support our family through all of this? Bert operated an offfarm business until 1993 and Laurie worked off the farm until 2000. Few people can know what it is like to work two full time jobs as we did for so many years. This was how we made ends meet. We did not take a salary until five years ago because the business could not afford to pay us. Now we receive a modest income, paltry by most people's standards. Because Bert is 61 and I am 58 we are looking at retirement. How can we do this? Can we sell this operation as an operating farm? Economic viability is a major issue. All farms in Haiton Hills carry three eco nomic components. The first is the value as an operating farm business. The other two components are the value as farmland. One of these two components is the value as a producing farm. The third component is the value associated with the Official Plan of the Town of Haiton Hills. Greenbelting our farm is actually expropriation without the paperwork. It legislates without com pensation the Official Plan component of our farm value. We are really troubled that our govern ments, local, regional and provincial, feel they have the right to dictate how we end our lives. Expropriating or legislating our land only offers us the option of working at this difficult intensity until we drop dead or live in difficult financial circumstances. Our farm is our retirement package. It is all that we have. It seems ludicrous that such dictation can take place in a democracy. Why are farmers and rural landowners the fall guys in this grand scheme? Please consider two comparative exam ples. What would happen if the provincial government announced they would be leg islating a reduction of 50 per cent in the teacher's pension payout? What would hap pen if the federal government tried to legis late a 50 per cent reduction in the payout of the Canada Pension Plan? The politicians and planners who are doing this have no farm financial concerns and look forward to comfortable retirement packages. I am sure it is difficult for these people to look at the situation from our per spective, but some consideration has to be given to the financial issues we face. Greenbelting is a positive and noble idea. Promotional literature from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing states the benefits of greenbelting are stronger com munities, healthier Ontarians and a better quality of life. Everyone supports these con cepts as they do motherhood and raspberry pie. Why does the cost have to be borne on the shoulders of farmers and rural landowners? Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs John Gerretsen is reported to have said at the Burlington Greenbelt meeting that Greenbelting does not infringe on property rights. Does this mean that prop erty rights are not entrenched in either provincial jurisdiction or the federal consti tution? Those who wish to have expansive greenbelt areas to enjoy need to put their money towards their environmental desires. A lesson could be learned from our U.S. neighbours. All states including our neighbour, New York State, have greenbelt or trust plans with proper compensation to the designated farmland owners. This makes the plan viable and fair. This is a very emotional and stressful issue for farm families. There are many farm families facing this difficult situation. The greenbelt issue is bringing farm and rural landowners together as we have not seen in 25 years. We can only hope that fair ness and a concern for our plight and for those like us can be integrated into this grand scheme. BERT AND LAURAINE ANDREWS P r o t e s t in g is a in O a k v ille e x p e r ie n c e le a r n in g By StCVCNease snease@haltonsearch.com Last week 1had the interesting new experience of organ izing a "Stand Up for Canada" protest gathering in Oakville. It was a week full of surprises. I discovered that, although the Canadian Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly - "Politics in the Parks" is frowned upon and you have to pay a hefty fee for a permit to gather in Oakville. I learned that (as stipulated in that permit) protesting against invasion, war and torture "does not necessarily reflect the views of the Town of Oakville." I was amused to find that asking some Oakville residents whether they would like, to participate in a protest gather ing was perceived by them as akin to asking them to shoot the Pope. I was gratified to see that the young protesters from the high schools were giddily delighted at the chance to have something to protest about and they did so with energy and enthusiasm. They cheered and chanted and waved their signs at passing cars. They cheerfully "Bush-Whacked" a Bush Pinata and they held candles and sang protest songs. I was touched to see that young parents came with their children to watch democracy in action, (and they made beautiful artistic contributions to our UnWelcome Mat for President Bush.) I was chastened to meet a young Sheridan student newly arrived from South America, who was shocked to find that so few people in Oakville turned out to protest - but I also met a retired teacher from South America, who has lived here for many years, who was amazed to find that so many people in Oakville did turn out to protest! I made the acquaintance of a very articulate young man on a skateboard, who pointed out that Oakville is a very small community with a disproportionately large share of Canada's wealth. He challenged us to use our protest to call for the eradication of want and hunger world-wide. I was surprised to learn from some protesters that there was no point in protesting or voting, because, "In Canada, nothing ever changes." Their view seemed to be that most citizens have their basic needs for food, shelter and security satisfied, and so enlightened self-interest is the norm. They felt that free dom to protest and to vote is only appreciated in countries like Ukraine, Venezuela and West Africa. Nevertheless, to my surprise, 30-plus protesters remained, discussing and debating in the Town Square until, in the words of Bob Dylan, "a hard rain began to fall." As Thomas Jefferson once told us, "The price of Freedom is eternal vigilance." Comfortable or not, we still need to be alert, aware and actively concerned. Otherwise, we may all be taken by sur prise. TINA AGRELL PRESIDENT OAKVILLE NDP The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Countil. The council is located at 80 Gould St, Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., MSB 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical enot that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged foe but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or dedine.