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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, September 4, 2015 | 6 Rob Burton can't be surprised that people are calling for his head after his despicable display on twitter last week. It seems Burton needs a reminder about the old saying, `think before you speak', or in this case, `tweet'. Comparing Conservative leader Stephen Harper to Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and Canadian veterans hired as security for Harper's election campaign to Hitler's Brownshirts and Mussolini's Blackshirts is so out of bounds, it calls into question the Oakville mayor's decision-making ability. Justi ably, a social media restorm rained down on Burton -- a Liberal party supporter -- when he rst tweeted Thursday, Aug. 27 "This goes too far. Conservatives beef up campaign security with mercenaries." This, in response to a Canadian Press story about the Harper Conservatives hiring veterans as added security for campaign events. That tweet prompted a Friday morning response from Conservative MP Lisa Raitt to both Burton and the newspaper that published the story: "Mercenaries? Maybe you meant veterans?" It was Burton's follow-up tweet that had people calling for his resignation over the weekend. "Any political parties had private police using veterans before?" Burton tweeted, linking to Wikipedia pages about Hitler's Sturmabteilung and Mussolini's Blackshirts -- the paramilitary wings of the National Fascist Party in Italy and the Nazi Party in Germany before the Second World War. "Any others?" While a few tweets supported Burton's remarks, most condemned his comparisons. "U owe all of us Vets and apology and u need to resign for sheer stupidity. Yes that comment was utter stupidity," tweeted Rudi Saueracker. "Did you really say this? If so then you are an embarrassment to the City of Oakville," wrote Doug Tupper. "Disgusting comments about our veterans. You should be ashamed," commented Laurie Hunter. Senior Tory Jason Kenney demanded an apology on Saturday, tweeting: "Mayor Burton of Oakville has compared Canadian military veterans who do private security work to NAZIs. Please apologize." Burton has since taken down the offending tweet and offered the following: "I apologize to all vets for my remarks. I regret any impact on their feelings or pride. I celebrate the way they went to ght for freedom." While we believe Burton's apology is sincere, the damage of his words has been done. You can't tell someone you respect them right after you've compared them with the goon squads hired to protect two of history's most infamous dictators -- including the architect of the Holocaust. We don't have a problem with Burton pointing out the hypocrisy of Harper hiring former military of cers as security when the Conservatives have seemingly been "at war" with our country's veterans over everything from Veteran Affairs Canada staf ng cutbacks to the closing of nine regional veterans affairs of ces last year. However, invoking the name of Hitler in the same breath that you speak of our veterans (and Harper) was both shameful and disrespectful to the men and women who proudly serve our country. Mayor Burton spoke to the Oakville Beaver about the Twitter misstep. Read the story at insidehalton.com. A tweet too far Editorial B E A R S T H A T C A "Connected to your Community" R E 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 71 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 ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager SANDY PARE MARK DILLS The Oakville Beaver's Bears That Care program recently delivered teddy bears to the pediatric ward at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH). Each bear purchased was labeled with the advertiser's logo as well as a get well message. Supporters also received an advertisement in the Beaver's Bears that Care feature highlighting their involvement in the annual program, which provides the stuffed toys for ill children and newborns at OTMH. The program will continue next year at the new Oakville hospital. Here, on hand for the bear donation are, from left, Fraser Kegel, physician assistant; Dr. K. Parameswaran; Andrew Davy, father; Melanie Shackleton-Davy, mother; Alvo Davy, Bill Davy, grandfather, Kathryn Doren of OTMH; and Janice Jacobs, and Suzanne Trickey of the Beaver. | photo by Riziero Vertolli ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Stories about mayor's controversial comments on Twitter miss point Recent articles about Mayor Rob Burton's controversial comments on Twitter missed the point entirely. I don't begrudge anyone having an opinion, no matter how contentious, and whether or not Mr. Burton offended veterans' groups or other special interest groups with his opinion is irrelevant to my mind. My concern is the highly-partisan nature of the post on Twitter and how this partisanship may affect the town. Again, he's entitled to his viewpoint, but expressing it from the Twitter account @OakvilleMayor, an account that appears to represent the Of ce of the Mayor as much as it does the man, is of dubious wisdom. Municipalities regularly work with senior levels of government on infrastructure projects and seek funding from them for other matters of local concern. With that in mind, it would seem to me that a mayor's expression of fervent political opinions on federal or provincial matters may unnecessarily make such cooperation more dif cult. It is reasonable for a municipal leader to weigh in on various political parties' policies, especially insofar as they relate to local matters. In my opinion, it is not be tting, however, for that leader to express blanket condemnation of one political party or another, to the possible detriment of his own electorate. Bjorn Brown, Oakville Letter to the Editor Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member 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.