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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ed ne sd ay, M a rc h 20, 2002 mi: iiikinii: item Recognized for Excellence by [ -- O ntario C om m unity j Newspapers Association / v 7 \ j . A Canadian C om m unity Newspapers Association EDITORIALS AM* LETTERS IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager 46 7 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (9 0 5 ) 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 Production Manager Photography Director STEVE CROZIER em ulation Director ROD 1ERRED Managing Editor TH EO AKVILLE B E A V E R IS PR O U DO FFIC IAL M E D IA SPO NSO RF O R : JILL DAVIS MARK DILLS KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLU Editor in Chief MrtnJond Pmong Pubtohrtg S D ttttou tng L t t . n U t e A dw rju r* A ls to n H n tV O ftffc r A rtM Enfcrpnoe Hrtn. Barm HSmtm. Barry* Bay T h * W w *, Bcflnr E rferm u* &*m p(un Guarrian aurtmgton P » L R u tn g K r 9 n c c * x ; fi» m . 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Jr ig e B et Fund M o a T A· · n |4o a k vllle g alleries | w *r» * < m« £M i * ^ ir^rl O TJ>. 0 TV AUCTION Q ) a h 'i H i J 'hivtr'tls m BUSINESS EXCaUNCt SKA Suburban Newspapers o f Am erica O+Cj l I cmam^c n n t Rift threatens council One of the most unfortunate side effects of the Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 198 debate is that we now have an apparent rift on Town council, which threatens its abili ty to function as a governing body. On one side, we have the Gang of Seven, who voted to defer OPA 198. and then followed that up with an unsuccessful coup by declaring an emergency meeting last Monday during March break (so much for public participation ranking high on the Gang of Seven's agenda.) The Gang of Seven tried to seize control of the fight against the OPA 198 by voting themselves to an all powerful Growth Management and Environmental Protection Committee. Among its many duties, the committee would be responsible for the hiring and firing of consultants and lawyers for the upcoming OMB hearing over OPA 198. Trouble was. the Gang of Seven's mem bership wasn't really representative of the town's population distribution -- most notably it has no members in Wards 5 and 6. which encompasses most of the area affected by OPA 198. In the end. the membership of the new committee will be decided at a later date with one member from each of the town's six wards. The committee will also report to council, which will ultimately vote on its recommendations. On the other hand, we have four of the five non-Gang of Seven councillors now demanding an apology (see letter below) for the attempt to exclude them from the new committee. While we're not sure anyone deserves an apology from anyone on council, we're certain a rift has developed within it. And at first glance, it appears that rift may be in part caused by party politics invading Town hall. The apparent leader of the Gang of Seven appears to be Ward 1 councillor Kevin Flynn, who will represent the Liberals in the Oakville riding in the next provincial election. And leading the non-Gang of Seven, who will in future be referred to as the Gang of Five Plus One (the mayor), is Mayor Ann Mulvale, who ran unsuccess fully under the Progressive Conservative banner back in the 1993 federal election. While we don't know the different polit ical affiliations of all the members of the two camps of councillors, we believe party politics have no place at council. Councillors who fall prey to party poli tics at the municipal level end up serving the party first and the community second. At this point, council is in danger of let ting the acrimonious fallout from the OPA 198 debate cloud all future discussions at council. In the future, we suggest all councillors develop thicker skins. And let's get rid of the Gang of Seven, and the Gang of Five Plus One allegiances, and get back to 12 councillors and one mayor trying their best to guide the town. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Councillors want apology from Kevin Flynn As representatives of Wards 5 and 6 we have been carefully monitoring our e-mail and the local newspapers for an apology from Ward 1 Regional Councillor Kevin Flynn. It has been a week since Councillor Flynn introduced a motion at Town council that tried to strip the democratic rights away from our constituents. By manufacturing an emergency meeting and trying to usurp the authority o f council, the citizens of our wards were the recipients of his utmost contempt. First, Councillor Flynn convinced six councillors to call an emergency meeting of council while members o f the public were on March break. We are still waiting for some reasonable answer as to what the emergency was. Everybody who has followed the Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 198 process knew we were going to be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) by develop ers. so that couldn't have been the emergency. Mayor Mulvale and staff committed to an update on an appeal strategy at our next coun cil meeting of March 25. so that couldn't have been the emergency. Second, Councillor Flynn introduced a motion, with no public notice that attempted to wrest decision-making away from Council, by conferring on a committee of seven coun cillors. the power to direct staff to fire and hire consultants. Only the full council has the authority to make these decisions, and on such a critical issue only the full council should make these decisions. Third, only the names of the councillors who voted to refer OPA 198 back to staff were put forward to serve on this committee. We were told it was only a coincidence and that it had nothing to do with the fact that we opposed the referral decision. Even though most of the land north of Dundas is in Wards 5 and 6. we were excluded. For all these reasons. Councillor Flynn owes the citizens of our wards an apology. JANICE CASTER LOCAL COUNCILLOR W ARD 5 JEFF KNOLL REGIONAL COUNCILLOR W ARD 5 JANICE WRIGHT LOCAL COUNCILLOR W ARD 6 KURT FRANKILN REGIONAL COUNCILLOR W ARD 6 LETTER O F THE WEEK Development should benefit existing residents li is time the existing residents o f Oakville rebel against development o f their Town for the benefit o f "non-resi dents and incoming strangers." Take my neighbourhood as an example: it has 35-yearold lights and at night white cats can hide under them. Overhead wires are a mess and look like black spaghetti just thrown up there. We have no pavements or bicycle paths and walking or riding on my road is like travelling along the Bruce Trail. The street is a patchwork of varying shades grey and black. We have a local park where play equipment has been removed and not replaced. Trees that have fallen down with old age are not renewed. 1 commute through "Development" that 10 years ago was through green fields, fanning lands and woods. My throat, lungs and eyes often suffer from pollution: houses do not create the same oxygen output as trees. When will the existing taxpayers get theirs? Disband all development personnel and resources and concentrate on quality of life and continuous improvement for the existing residents. (It is just the same as Ford reacting to "Over Capacity.") Further grow th of Oakville is for the direct financial benefit of developers/speculators and investors who pur chased farmland, and manipulate re-zoning and planning amendments during the development process. I would suggest we hold a binding referendum with "Should we Develop Oakville over the next 20 years - yes or n o ? " COLIN DAVEY Beware of pesticide ban I cannot let anti-pesticides letters in the local media go unchallenged. Beware citizens of Oakville! There is an organized campaign under way to pressure Oakville Town council to impose a ban on pesticide use (herbi cides and insecticides) on private property in Oakville. Such an unnecessary ban w ill deny you the option o f choice in the use of fully licensed products to care for your lawn. Do not be swayed by fear mongering. paranoia and innuendo. Make an informed decision. Reliable information respecting pesticides is available from: Crop Protection Institute, and from Urban Pest Management Council of Canada, both of 21 Four Seasons Place. Suite 627, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6J8. Telephone 416-622-9771. Fax 416-622-6764. and contact Health Canada. Pest Management Regulatory Agency, 2720 promenade Riverside Drive. Ottawa. ON K 1A 0K9. B. D. HAUSER Don't give in to developers Why do you predict O akville will get Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 198? We are living in a democracy, ^ e we not? Your cavalier attitude about `well-meaning, if overly idealis tic residents' is offensive. Is it not our right to protest, to stand up for what we believe in? Do we have to tow the line of the developers? What do they care about the quality o f our water and air? In our family, two people are suffering from the effect of toxin in the water and pollution in the air. It's true: we drive a car, one small car. but we still envision a green Oakville for our children and grandchildren. Please think of the common good and help us! BRITTA BRAND Green space needs protection The letters from Ann and Malcom Wootton in The Oakville Beaver of Wednesday. March 6, certainly gave me food for thought. Everyone would have to go a long, long way to find green fields and a few animals grazing. How sad for the children. We must have a certain amount of green space for the health of all -- including small streams, w etlands and trees. We are destroying most of the natural order of things which, in turn, will destroy us. Air pollution abounds with traffic that is out of control and getting worse; yet, the buildings go on and on. We have to stop this madness. Hasn't anyone got com mon sense? Why are we doing all this? Is greed rearing its ugly head? So many people that I have spoken to are so against the constant building without any restraint. ESTHER G. FARLEY Why is taxpayers' money being used for Trudeau scholarship fund? So we now have another boondoggle -- S I25 million for a college and scholarship fund in Pierre Trudeau's name, teaching exclusively Trudeau's philosophy, whether for better or for worse. Apparently. Jean Chretien did not bring the facts of this intended expenditure to Parliament until the day he announced it and sitting in the gallery were members of Trudeau's family, who, incidentally, have been scheduled to han dle the $ 125 million, and who obviously knew about the scheme before anyone of consequence was consulted such as the Members of Parliament. Jean Chretien has made the analogy that it would be similar to the Rhodes Scholarship, but it has been pointed out by editorials and by Letters to the Editor that the Rhodes Scholarship is funded by private money. It is my contention that if Jean Chretien wishes to remember his mentor in such a lavish way, he should pay for it together with the admirers of Trudeau. Incidentally, if this boon doggle occurs, I can already visualize all the lit tle Liberals attending the college and, in so doing, being brainwashed into the thinking of a man whose time has passed. Nevertheless, they will be prime candidates for future Liberal politicians although their thinking will be of the '60s vintage. I. for one. suspect there are many others w ho do not look upon Trudeau as the Messiah and. therefore, do not want to see the Armed Services being denied this $125 million, espe cially when it is being given in honour of a pacifist, one who eroded the Armed Forces in the first place. However, like it or not. we are steeped in Trudeau's so-called vision of Canada and I can't stomach any more especially when it costs $125 million of ordinary people's money. BETTY A. HANSFORD Pud By STEVE NEASE Eves has support from police I wish to point out something that is happening in the Ontario PC leadership campaign that seems to have picked up very little attention in the mainstream media. There have been five police associations: the Ontario Provincial Police Association; Halton Regional Police Association: Toronto Police Association; York Regional Police Association: and the Police Association of Ontario representing thousands of front-line police officers, who have announced their endorsements o f Ernie Eves. No other police association has come forward for any other candidate and, in particular, Jim Flaherty who was once the Attorney General. In these uncertain times. I think it speaks volumes for Mr. Eves' long-standing and unbroken support for safety and security issues, that these five organizations would choose to place their reputations behind him. HEATHER PENDOCK BUT SAM M f, You SAID TODAY IS D EFIRST D AY Op SPRING- / IT 15/ Positive , 'D O E S N 'TFEB. M A X / .LIKE 1 T / J DM' 5 v J (!)