Oakville News received the following Letter to the Editor from local resident Cindy Cottrelle, in regards to combating violence in Oakville. It was addressed in an open letter to news outlets and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton,
Hi Mayor Burton,
Relieved to hear from you that you are not sanctioning the fountain to be built in town Square which will allow more resources for what’s important….to fight crime!
As you are aware, our beautiful Livable Town Of Oakville, which you’ve been a strong proponent of for many years, thank you, has been ravaged by criminals, resulting in break and enters, violent break & enters, and car thefts up to 3000 cars stolen in Halton since 2023. I did the math and that’s over four cars a day.
Unacceptable!
We can no longer hide under the veil of pretending Oakville is a liveable town. You cannot compare it to other towns such as Brampton and Scarborough or even Toronto. Don’t debase our extraordinary town, which you proudly have been a mayor of for many decades, by comparing it to these areas. What you must compare it to, is what Oakville was, prior to the federal government making some very irresponsible and negligent decisions.
Our Oakville citizens are scared and angry. I speak to many of them every day, so I’m quite aware of the state of their angst and although you might be surprised, the fact is that many of our citizens are now obtaining their gun licenses and arming themselves because our governments have let us down. You Rob, are originally an American citizen, so you know all about guns and the result of gun ownership.
We are trying to work together with all levels of government, to remedy this very frightening and dangerous situation. So I would encourage you, the HRPS and Anita Anand to set aside your ineffective, misguided and to be quite frank rather silly differences to come together under one roof to show our Oakville citizens the support they absolutely and certainly deserve.
Most Sincerely,
Cindy Cottrelle
Gallerist, Summer & Grace Gallery
Oakville, Ont.
