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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, July 17, 2015 | 6 Anonymous delivery detracts from message This week's delivery of a graphic anti-abortion yer left in many Oakville residents' mailboxes or on doorsteps was inappropriate. To the group calling itself #No2Trudeau and claiming responsibility for delivering the yer, you should be ashamed of your strategy. Yes, your lea et has shock value. But it lacks respect. Without venturing into the polarizing debate associated with the yer's message, we believe that if you have a strong opinion and wish to convey it to others, you do so openly and respectfully. The folks behind the campaign cannot be reached by dissenters. They refer people to a website, where in turn an email response is generated to those who reach out assuring them their correspondence is read. It does not provide the opportunity of an inperson call and uses its website to explain its actions. A representative of the group ha responded to media outlets, but says it has no intention of stopping. The graphic nature of the yer is, unfortunately, worth its weight in publicity gold. Even an uncharacteristic admonishment from the Advertising Standards Canada, the self-regulating agency comprised of advertising industry members that usually does not consider complaints on political advertising, drew tepid, if any, remorse from the campaign. "Their decision, I would actually word it as their opinion, on our postcards doesn't actually mean anything to us and it's not going to stop anything we are doing," said Jonathan Van Maren, voice of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform which, along with Campaign Life Coalition, is delivering hundreds of thousands of the anti-abortion postcards across Canada -- including some 40,000 in Oakville. Beyond the yer's images, its delivery tactics resemble nothing more than those of a coward, perhaps an anonymous hacker, who claims responsibility for actions condemned by most. They hide behind that veil of anonymity while offending or harming others. The info pamphlet in question is extremely graphic. It would not be reproduced by this publication, in print or online, because of that. If a news organization chooses to publicize a graphic photograph, there is usually an advance warning that provides readers with the opportunity to decline viewing. Responsibility, accountability are involved. But not so with the delivery of this material. Here, yers are left with the graphic images openly available to whoever happens upon it, including children. Claims that possible viewing by children could provide a talking point are rubbish. It is not up to the messenger to decide what is age appropriate. One resident told the Oakville Beaver the yer was handed to his seven-year-old son. The father is, and rightfully so, `outraged.' This newspaper has been elding complaints from upset residents all week. No campaign will hit home or resonate if the delivery of its message is distracting enough that it detracts from the message. Editorial O P T I M I S T B U R S A R Y "Connected to your Community" W I N N E R S 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 53 | Number 57 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor The annual Oakville Optimist Don McDonald Bursaries, in the amount of $2,000 each, were awarded to six Grade 12 students heading to university or college in the fall. The award winners and their schools, from left, are: Brittany MacKinnon, Oakville Trafalgar High School; Nathaly Jarrin and Emily Smithers, White Oaks Secondary School; Liam Rondeau, T.A. Blakelock High School; Yana Kovalevich, St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School; and Dirk Grebenc, Iroquois Ridge High School. To qualify, students must have done well in school, shown leadership and volunteerism and demonstrated a need for assistance. There is one bursary available to each of the 10 public and Catholic high schools in Oakville. Also pictured with the youths are Optimist Don McDonald and Optimist Andy Mann, bursary program chair. | submitted photo ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Tracking immunizations to keep residents, schools and communities healthy Gary Carr Halton Region Chair My View Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member H alton Region is committed to the health and well-being of all our residents and immunization is one way to protect our community from the threat of preventable diseases. While the majority of families in Halton immunize their children to protect their health, many are unaware of the need to notify the Halton Region Health Department about any immunizations their children have. The provincial Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) outlines which immunizations students must have in order to keep our students and schools healthy by protecting our children from the vaccine-preventable diseases that can easily spread in schools. The Province requires that local health departments con rm the immunization records of students to ensure they have the legallyrequired immunizations in order to attend school. This summer, please take a moment to ensure your family's immunizations are up-to-date, your children have all their legally-required immunizations to attend school and the Halton Region Health Department has your updated records on le. You can nd out if the Halton Region Health Department has updated records by dialing 311. If your child is unable to get immunized, you must have a notarized exemption on le with the Health Department in order to meet school attendance requirements. To help make it easier for you to update your vaccination history with the Health Department, we're also working on a new, online immunization reporting system that should be ready this fall. Thank you for helping us keep Halton a safe and healthy place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: 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, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. 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.