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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, December 9, 2009 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Santa McGuinty Although it may be the season of giving, it appears our provincial Liberal government has opted to adopt this philosophy throughout the year. The only problem is it is using taxpayers' money for its philanthropy. Again. In his annual report released Monday, Auditor General Jim McCarter revealed that, despite recent expense scandals at eHealth and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Liberal government is wasting millions of hardearned tax dollars. Again. Among his findings: · More than $1.2 billion has been overpaid to people on disability support and welfare. Only minimal effort is made to get the money back and not enough is being done to prevent overpayments in the first place · The Ministry of Health is paying excessively high prices for devices like scooters and home oxygen systems · About $500 million in provincial fees from alcohol, gaming and registration services could be in jeopardy because they amount to a tax not yet established by legislation · Despite a claim in the spring budget that $45 million in savings had been redirected to hospitals, universities and colleges thanks to a bulk purchasing program called OntarioBuys, in fact only $337,000 in savings were redistributed. Adding insult to injury: the program cost $148 million to establish. Along with wasting taxpayers' money, McCarter found the Province is playing fast and loose with the public's safety as thousands of Ontario bridges have not been adequately inspected. Some bridges spanning Hwy. 401 haven't been checked in three years. McCarter urged government staffers to "spend the taxpayers' money like it is their own." We can't help but wonder why this message needs reinforcing. Again. Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur admitted the government "has a lot to do." We'd agree. Again. 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. Letter to the editor Power plant poppycock By 2020, Ontario will roll out more gas-fired plants, wind generators and solar farms as it retires from coal generation. Simply put ­ well done. As any dented alarm clock will tell you however, people don't take change easily. We are twitchy beasts and won't trust others who may gain by our rude awakening. No one will ever believe an environmental review paid for by a power company, or a residents' association; to think so is mere poppycock (although a nice trick if they can get away with it). We need solid science Ontarians can trust. This can only come from independent environmental assessments where the terms of reference are agreed by all. As we enter a post-Copenhagen world, let's hop out of our slumber and work together, without the current huffing and puffing. DOUG WADE Letters to the editor 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, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Air pollution forced move to prairies I am extremely discouraged to hear of a huge power plant to possibly be built in Oakville. I lived in Oakville for 11 years, moving there in 1997 and being forced to move away in 2008. The decision to move away was based solely on health reasons. I have a chronic lung disease. Oakville is a beautiful town and I enjoyed living there. I have close family including two grandchildren who live there and many friends. As the air pollution in the area got worse so did my respiratory problems. On bad air days, I would cough much more, became increasingly fatigued and would have to work much harder to breathe. I was registered on an e-mail alert with Ontario Ministry of the Environment and would receive notice of impending smog advisories. The recommendation was anyone with chronic lung and heart diseases and young children should stay indoors. These advisories used to come in the summer only, but started to come earlier and earlier, even as soon as March in some years. In 2005, there were 48 smog days and in 2007 there were 31 smog days in Halton. Winter is long in Canada and I like most people, look forward to summertime. When summer arrives and you have to spend many days inside because of the air pollution, the poor air quality situation is serious. All of my doctors and specialists told me that the air pollution in the Oakville area was a contributing factor to my lung problems. I now live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where the air is much cleaner and I have found a significant improvement in my health and also my energy level. For an area that already has one of the highest pollution levels in Canada, the prospect of adding a massive power plant to already dangerous air pollution levels will subsequently lead to serious illnesses for many of the residents. It is my sincere hope that strong action is taken to prevent this from happening. DAWNA NEILSON, SASKATOON, SK Condo fees and HST I noted in The Oakville Beaver, Nov. 27 edition (Oakville MPP says HST not a tax grab), MPP Kevin Flynn stated that condo fees were not subject to the HST. When I prepared the budget for our condo, I utilized the instructions our property manager provided. These instructions indicated that we should budget more for street lighting, landscaping, lawyer, auditor and property management fees as a result of the eight per cent HST. See Confusion page 7 Author's name dropped The name of the writer, Stuart Jones was inadvertently dropped from the letter to the editor, Disappointing guest column, Oakville Beaver, Friday, Dec. 4. The Oakville Beaver regrets the error and apologizes for any inconvenience it may have caused.