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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday February 2, 2000 T h e O akville B eaver Ian O liver Publisher Neil O liver Associate Publisher N o rm an A lex a n d e r Editor K elly M o n ta g u e , Advertising Director M a rtin D o h erty Circulation Director Ten C asas Office Manager M a rk Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography Metroland Printing. Publishing & Distributing Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. AJliston Herald/Courier. Barrie Advance. Bany^ Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. Burlington Post. Burington Shopping News. City Parent. ColSngwood'Y&saga Connection. East York Minor. Erin Advocata'Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardan, Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. Huronia Business Tmes. Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week, Markham Ecnomist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion. Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Times. Mtesissauga News. Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Auora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York M mtot, Oakville Beaver, Gakvile Shopping News, Odtmers Hockey News. Cnha Today. Oshawa/Whrttv/Clarington Pert Perry This Week. Oven S a rd Tribune. Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hilt/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. Stouffvilla/Uxbridge Trixne, RyeverYbung.CityofMDikGuanJan OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association THE OA KV IL L E BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ^gS2S». < *'fstategies fegD F E *' LCOME^pt THE ·M .IU 'I f a l * 'AGON tn> BRONTt BUTTERFLY ·J I* CXA \ Z; J , Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America J^tfiena kJAward J iN q lE B fll F tN d (the O akville & 4w acds 467 Speers R d , Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7 -5 5 6 7 Classified Advertising: 8 4 5 -2 8 0 9 Circulation: 8 4 5 -9 7 4 2 SK* /or^ TV AUCTION 0703® Editorials Don't bet on it At the risk o f looking a gift horse in the mouth, we find it difficult to applaud the Halton District School Board's recent conclusion that northeast Oakville needs two schools. That bit of news was revealed Monday, at an open house at town hall. Forgive us for being underwhelmed, but we knew that already. Anyone living north of the Queen Elizabeth Way knows the area needs more public schools. They need them today. They needed them yesterday. Heck, they needed them five years ago. We didn't need a six-mdnth study to make that determination. `Northerners' are being promised one school in September 2001 and anoth er in Septem ber 2006. O f course, these recommendations are nothing but empty prom ises unless the current crop of Halton District School Board trustees come to grips with the region's problem of excess pupil spaces in southern Oakville and Burlington schools. In other words, under the current rules as dictated by the provincial govern ment, they have to close some schools in the south before any schools in the north will be built. So far, the public school trustees have not been able to exert their political will to close any schools. Time and time again, they have buckled under pres sure from residents in the south who want their schools kept open. Part of the problem is the formula the province uses to determine funding approval for new schools. The current system, doesn't examine the need for new schools by the neighbourhood, but by the entire region. It ties the opening of new schools in with the closing of older schools. It pits north against south and parent against parent. Northern trustees vote for new schools and southern trustees vote for keeping old schools open. The result is a deadlock with no clear solution in sight. So while it's easy say northeast Oakville needs two new schools, it's anoth er to explain exactly how this will come about. Until someone comes up with that answer, we wouldn't recommend betting on a date when construction of new schools will begin in north Oakville. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Bronte Creek must have wide appeal A lthough I had hoped not to enter the fray in regards to the east side of Bronte Creek Provincial Park, I feel it is necessary to let your readers see the other side of the coin, and try to ensure that the park is open to multiple uses by the many individuals and groups who may, from tim e to time, want to enjoy some outdoor recreation. The original plans for the park called for a cam pground. It was thought to be too expensive at the time of the park's inception and the cam pground's developm ent was put on hold for some time in the future. Although there were some opposition to it at the time, the plans were never changed. In 1984 sewer and water services were put in, and now phase one of the camp ground is to become a reality prob ably some time in March. These 140 fully serviced cam psites are sorely needed in th is area, the cam pground being the only one betw een S to n ey C reek and Toronto. I am sure it will add to tourism in the area. T he cam p ground is situated on the flat exagricultural lands north of Upper Middle Road with a 60 ft buffer zone between it and the wooded area with its trilliums, ferns, and other w ild flow ers. T he cam p ground should have no impact on the m ore sen sitiv e areas o f the park. The m ore I talk to d ifferen t users of that portion of the park, the more I find that the opponents to the RCGA proposal and now the campground, are a group of people who want to exercise their dogs, leash-free is unauthorized area, and therefore for their own self-serving reasons, do not want to either share or be ousted by a more permanent type of land use. One area resid en t has had a poultry killed by these peoples' "pets." Last spring the OPP and con serv atio n o fficers from the M inistry o f N atu ral R esources were warning the pet owners that their dogs were harassing deer, something that is illegal and could mean serious charges to the own e rs, in c lu d in g d estro y in g the offending dogs. They consider a leash-free zone to mean that the owners do not have to stoop and scoop, and this is apparent along the hiking and the equestrian trails that wind through the area. T he L u th er M arsh H unting Retriever Club use, with permis sio n , an a rea sou th o f U pper Middle Road for training purposes and they have never been a prob lem. In fact that portion of the park was officially declared a leash-free zone. Why do the dog owners feel they have to commandeer the area north of Upper Middle Road? And if they are as responsible as they would have us believe, why do they not have control of their dogs? They are the problem, not the dogs. And the numbers! Often, on week ends, there are upward of 50 to 60 dogs running loose. Is it any won der that nary a cottontail rabbit has been seen here for at least two years? This group of people have, in my opinion, misrepresented them selves and their selfish goals to some first-class conservation orga nizatio n s such as the O n tario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Sierra Defence Fund to name but three. They took action against a golf complex when it was only a concept; not even a proposal; not even on the drawing board. But where were they in 1984? Where were they when the park was first planned, and opened? Bronte Creek Provincial Park should be accessible to all the peo ple for many, many types of recre ation. Negotiation and compromise is the answer here. Letter of the Week School issue about playing politics The Northeast Oakville Accommodation study has robbed parents and board staff of valuable time and the board of much-needed money. However, as a delaying tac tic, it gets A+ marks. It is a sterling example of how some of the trustees continue to play little political games that create the impression they are concerned with the crisis, while pitting parent against parent. For example, River Oaks desperately needs two new schools to alleviate both the overcrowding at River Oaks Public School and to accommodate the growing number of children who have moved into th area (though, the board continues to lose many frustrated parents to both the pri vate and Catholic system). The study offers one new River Oak school-and basi cally provides a forum for River Oaks parents to fight amongst each other to see who will be allowed to attend the new school-wili it be your kids, or your neighbours' kids? Besides, as long as the Board continues to have abundant surplus space in the south (particularly in Burlington, where the board's policy of busing your kids who live 1.6 km. or more from a school is merely academ ic-m any Burlington children have at least two, under capacity schools within 1.6 km. of their homes), the board is in no position to build even one new school. And because every empty square foot in schools is being financed with money that should be going into class room s, every child in the board w ill continue to be deprived of the full-benefit of Ministry funding until the surplus in the south is addressed. As for a new school in Iroquois Ridge in 2006, pray tell, how many of today's children will this afFect? This is akin to giving one piece of candy to a malnourished child, with the promise that when the child is 20 years-old, he'll be given a piece of bread. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bridge, food paid for by the parents of the malnour ished child is being thrown in the garbage. Thanks, but no thanks! F o rd 's w ith d ra w l hurts o rch estra Re: 'Ford Canada sales increase to $30 billion'-Oakville Beaver Jan. 28, 2000. How nice for Ford Canada to boast of its 13% increase from 1998, which translates into $30 billion in sales for 1999! Bobbie Gaunt, President and CEO, boasts of Ford's sales performance being "a direct reflection of the enduring work ethic and business acumen" of their many employees and retailers. Anyone driving into Oakville can't help but see the enormous Ford fac tory, a major landmark in our town's northeast comer. It is not the most aesthetically-pleasing structure, its large metal stacks looking like monster garbage cans for the Jolly Green Giant. Ford, the largest employer in this area, has some responsibilities. At what point should the corporate dollar, which is made as a result of Ford's hard-working employees in Oakville, contribute to the cultural vitality of its own community? Furthermore, most companies trying to entice highlyskilled employees, understand the necessity of a vibrant cultural communi ty. However, Ford Canada, a former sponsor of the Oakville Symphony Orchestra, no longer choose to support our orchestra. The OSO creates opportunities for all members of our community, both young and not-so-young, to play high quality and enriching music, their well-attended concerts at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts and the Oakville Waterfront Festival, feed the soul of those who attend. Conductor, Roberto De Clara, has enticed world-class solo artists who likely would have no other reason to come to Oakville to perform with the OSO. In this climate of large companies, financial institutions and the govern ment boasting of booming economic growth, one should understand that this progress is, in part, the result of the many elements in our culture, a culture that we have a social responsibility to maintain. As a musician and an instrumental music teacher in our crumbling pub lic education system, I wonder how long those of us who appreciate the importance of the arts will be able to nurture the youth of today and foster an atmosphere of cultural growth. I hope we are not witnessing the decline of our priceless arts culture. Shame on such a large corporation to no longer see the importance of their valued sponsorship of such an important cultural group in our town. J .R . E th e rin g to n Don't give up on Oakville The councillors who oppose municipal restructuring deserve our support; as you w rote recently, there are sharks all around us. Orwell's Oceania had a Ministry of Love, whose job was hate, and a Ministry of Truth whose job was lies; we have a M in istry o f Municipal Affairs, whose job is the destruction of communities. They would like to see more and more Bram ptons-once pleasant, small towns, lost in the middle of sprawl ing, characterless megamesses. Oakville is a community with its own character; the so-called experts cannot replicate it, only do it damage. If they lifted their heads from playing numbers games on their computers, and read Lewis M u m ford's cla ssic book The Culture of Cities, they might come to realize that all the hypothetical gains they project are merely illu sory. We have had many Alice-inWonderland decisions in Ontario recently-decision first, investiga tion later. It is time for a more rea sonable process to re-assert itself. A le x a n d ra L o p e s -P a c h e c o Other side to Sobey's story On Wed. Jan. 26th in the Oakville Beaver, I read an article headlined: `Sobey's new entry on supermarket scene'. Let me start off by telling you that my husband has worked for the company for over 20 years to date. Sobey's as it is called now, has had many name changes over the past years. In your article, you write that "as many as 100 new jobs have been created". True, but what about the hundreds of jobs that have been taken away as a result of this new entry on the supermarket scene? As of this month, my husband, along with over 900 present warehouse and supervisory employees, will no longer have a job with this company. You don't mention that in your article. It's nice to know that the stores had a well-known Toronto Argonaut player, Michael `Pinball' Clemons to the cut the rib bon and kick off the festivities, but would he have come if the truth were told about all these jobs being cut? I don't think so. This is by no means a celebration for me and my family, nor is it one for many others who are now in the same boat as my husband is in with no job. Thank you to Sobey's for step ping on the people who made the company what it is today. Thank you to Sobey's for taking away a life-time career for one very dedicated worker along with others. Your article is just letting people believe that everything is great with Sobey's, when, in fact, it's a very sad event for oth ers. We'll shop somewhere else. S u s an B a rb e r D .J . D o o le y Pud Yo ur m dm s working late ? SO I THOUGHT I'D ORPER . a for d in n e r by Steve Nease -- Pizza [ You wouldnY l i k e I Anchovies, I a j V SAMMY. ........... WELL, ^ ALRIGHT,, 'fiCK! W H A TARE THOSE DISSUSTI* . R S H things? CoO L.1 W E GET ANCHOVIES? 0 A n a K e rr