Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 3, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 6977044 focus Winnipeg free press a 7 August disabled feel Robert Latimer deserved prison tracks right Tehfe was taken from her by David Martin to the free press canadians with disabilities Are not much differ ent than other people when we hear about crimes reported in the we feel sympathy for the victim of crime and we Hope that the offender will be caught and be among other we look to our Judi Cial system to protect the rights of victims and to act in a Way which deters future criminal activity by the offender or some one of similar when the Robert Latimer Case the reaction of most canadians with disabilities was quite different than Many members of the Latimer is the Saskatchewan Farmer who killed his 12yearold daughter Tracy because he Felt she was living in too much Tracy had Complex disabilities result ing from cerebral palsy which caused the particular pain she was experiencing at the time of her latimers action has plunged the country into a con fusing and painful debate about mercy from the the general Public has expressed Little anger toward in Many people have rallied around him to offer emotional and financial the reason is that Many have accepted latimers explanation that he killed Tracy out of love to end her on the other canadians with Dis abilities have Felt anxious about latimers excuse for killing his Many canadians with disabilities Are alarmed by the split Between the Public Rush to sup port Latimer and our efforts to see his crime considered As a serious one which deserves Pun unlike Many people without we feel Hor ror about what Latimer did to his daughter we Are Hurt that so Many people cannot see the horror we the main reason for our Dis Tress is that we can relate to Tracy the victim of this like some of us live every Day without the ability to and feed some of us have developmental disabilities which make it difficult for us to think in a Way which is considered Normal for our some of us live in regular in spite of All of these almost every single one of us passionately strives to have control Over our lives and to live our lives As Long As our bodies will because of our spiritual connection to Tracy a number of organizations representing canadians with disabilities Felt compelled to intervene in the Public debate and court this was absolutely necessary up until that the highest profile person who was speaking on behalf of Tracy Latimer was the very person who killed in Many people with disabilities were concerned about latimers court Case because it questioned the right to life of a person with a disability who is nonverbal and who has some of us even feared if Latimer was not punished for his we might someday be mercifully Mur dered if we could not communicate and if we were perceived by others As As we began to learn about Tracy from the court records and from Public statements made by peo ple outside her family who knew Tracy Latimer sized her life was not much different than Many of in spite of her widely publicized she apparently laughed frequently and she seemed to have pleasure from Many family like other Tracy went to a school program on the bus with her Brothers and it also appears that Tracy was most Happy living at Home with the support and love of her Tracy had Access to medical services and social programs which were created to give her and her family assistance in cop ing with her in an operation to relieve tracks pain was supposed to take place just a few Days after she was another operation to help Tracy eat was also recommended to her operations Are not unfamiliar to people with disabilities although they Are usually fright we accept them As a Nec Essary evil to help us continue after the surgical procedures Tracy was facing Are not significantly different than something like open heart surgery or the insertion of a pacemaker for an individual who is having heart a and most fact which we Learned from studying the Case is that there is no evidence to suggest Tracy wanted her father to kill her father murdered her with out her Many people have confused the Latimer Case with the sue Rodriguez this is a mis sue Rodriguez was an adult who clearly and repeatedly said she wanted someone to help her commit Tracy Latimer was a child who never asked to be while there still needs to be a careful debate about the Issue of assisted Sui cide As a result of the Rodriguez one thing is sue Rodriguez never advocated that someone should kill her without her grave crime after reviewing the facts in the canadians with disabilities believe that a grave and irrational crime was committed against a Little As sure As we Are that our lives have we Are surely not convinced that tracks life was Many of the things that Tracy was going through Are things we have experienced in our own Martin says that disabled people can relate to our parents have gone through much of the heartache that the latimers based on our knowledge As peo ple with we do not believe she needed to die and we do not feel she deserved to be Latimer made a terrible mistake in judgment which Cost his daughter her in our Sci we must accept responsibility for mistakes we make when prescribed by we must spend time in jail As Pun a jury of his Peers and More recently the Saskatchewan court of Appeal have listened to the evidence and have decided that Latimer committed murder and that he must serve his sentence like others who Are convicted of second degree Mur Many canadians have not looked at All the facts before Rushing to join the bandwagon to excuse Robert Latimer for his they have found it easier to relate to the Brief Media images of the perpetrator of this crime rather than to think of the interests of the although there were Many Tracy Latimer had a life which was with available medical and social she might have lived Many More years and touched Many More this Opportunity was taken from her and that is a serious crime in our David Martin is provincial coordinator of the Manitoba league of persons with disabilities doctor guilty of misdiagnosis letters to the editor i would like to Welcome Lindsay to and wish him Good Luck in his Noble Effort to help restructure our heart however i Hope he does it suppose he can restructure our cites choices and future direction As new Guy has fresh views free july his Assumption that All who oppose massive government subsidies for a professional sports team Are Small irresponsible and lacking vision is insulting and i can assure him that Winnipeg Gers have generous and Magnani Mous hearts and an extraordinary reputation for research and vision in social Sci Medicine and particularly in the entertainment and cultural and i can assure him that the vast majority of our mature enter prising citizens have enough self esteem and Confidence not to invest so much of their financial and emotional health and identity with a hockey despite Good Lind says cursory misperception and misdiagnosis inflict unnecessary negative stress on a healthy patient already making Wise imaginative hear smart cardiac out put and pulse Are Ron Mitchell Winnipeg think before you buy a pet several articles during the past while have focused on the need in Winnipeg for a Low Cost spay and neuter not one of these articles has mentioned a broader and More important Issue responsible pet if a generous estimate is made that a spay and neuter program would reduce the number of Ani Mals that were euthanized by the humane society by 20 per that would still leave animals to be killed each a Large num Ber of those cats and dogs Are the result of the disposable pet syn far too Many people feel that owning a pet is a right instead of a privilege with associated respond people who choose to own a pet should consider the costs involved in caring for an animal properly throughout its life before How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited for style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg r2x letters can be sent to our fax number letters May be submitted through the internet at letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone taking on that responsibility a Small fraction of that Cost is the spay or Nancy Mcquade Winnipeg Bird kill a crying shame it Breaks my heart to hear that the horrible Slaughter of wildlife continues unabated in our in it sickens me to hear of yet another senseless extermination of hundreds of White pelicans and cormorants on Lake during the past 15 Ive been very fortunate As a Lay per son to have enjoyed the return of a flock of pelicans to a relatively quiet stretch of Beach on Lake win to pelicans Are the most Beautiful and Graceful of not Only for their physical appearance but also for their social Dis playing a keen sense of family and As Val Werier wrote in his column Admire the Majestic White pelicans free june these Birds Are truly of a Fine character and can teach us a thing or yet its a crying shame that someone would find it necessary to destroy these Beautiful but its a crying shame that any one would find it necessary to Mur Der Black bears for their Gall Over fish cod to extinction or clearcut old growth perhaps one Day we humans will Wake up and realize that nature is Reader says owning a pet is not a right but a privilege with associated for us to behold and not to pillage and Dennis Bayoumi Winnipeg outraged on Kennedy Street on july 7 at i received a parking ticket for having my car in the government parking lot on Kennedy i am writing you to express my not at the which is but at the mean spirited and miserly Atti tude which would cause me to receive it in the first the parking lot is used by government workers from to on regular working the lot stands absolutely empty for 15 hours a Day during the and for 24 hours a Day on week an Filmon during this off this space is absorbed Back into the neighbor where people Wash have and Park to relieve the parking pressure on the the Day i received the ticket on my it was on a Fil Mon and i had brought the car around Back to Wash the lot was absolutely As if it int bad enough that the government condones by example the destruction of vital inner City for it to be so miserly As to deny its neighbors and constituents the simple use of that space when it is not using it is selfish and i have paid this but i still feel Good about unapologetic ally Winnipeg City commended for recycling Deal i am delighted to hear we will finally get to enjoy something the majority of canadians have been enjoying for quite some time curbside local firms feel trashed free july Well nothing is but the Cost for this service will be covered by the Sale of should tax payers dollars be this would certainly be Money Well spent in comparison to some of the projects that have been funded in the but i am concerned with the Prospect of Public funds being considered to compensate three Small Why on Earth should we be compensating businesses who did not get the contract the City of Winnipeg put out a tender and awarded the contract to the lowest bidder imagine the tender system still Winnipeg Rural Folk free Load off City City Mike Oshaughnessy suggestion that City employees be required to live in the Rural residents unwelcome july has been criticized by some they miss the everyone who shops in the City pays the indirect people who own property in the City pay direct those living outside the City avoid the direct taxes while enjoy ing All the benefits that the rest of us pay Winnipeg has one of the most efficient civic administrations in the country but also the highest rate of property prior to the provincial All three parties supported continued development outside the City the highest areas of popu lation growth in the province Are just outside the City in nature we have a word for organisms that feed on other organisms without providing reciprocal we Call them Par Oshaughnessy is just doing his go get pm Curry Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau if Youma Kythe Coste refit up trying ;