Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 3, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A11 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade thursday August 3, 2006 Liberty of religion comment editor Equality of civil rights Gerald flood 697-7269 editorials imprisoning paedophiles t he criminal code reserves a special place for sex offenders in its provisions for Declar ing someone a dangerous offender. Courts have broadened even further the provision for lock ing up indefinitely sex offenders who prey upon children. Why Peter Whitmore an inveterate paedophile notorious for his repeat offences was never declared a dangerous offender is something Worth studying. But despite the suggestions of Justice minister Vic Toews who wants to expand that Laws reach there was no Lack of cause nor Opportunity in this Case. Today or. Whitmore is in custody and charged ? yet again ? with abducting a child 10-year-old Zachary Miller from Saskatchewan. Zachary was missing for Days after Whitmore befriended the Millers As he did with the parents of 14-year-old win nip Egger Jordan Bruyere who had been left in his care by the boys Stepfather. Jordan was with or. Whitmore when police cornered him at an abandoned Saskatchewan farmhouse yesterday. Or. Whitmore has a Long history ? at one Point he started a babysitting service ? of singling out boys befriending their families and kidnapping children. His convictions for sexual assault and abduction made him vulnerable to a dangerous offender declaration which requires an application by a Crown attorney. None of the Many measures taken to Date to protect children after his release from jail ? including several weeks of 24-hour surveillance by Toronto police in 2000 ? worked. Whatever the mans personal history it is hard to ignore the Bald fact he is an abiding threat to children and Many have fallen prey to his ways. Or. Toews suggests hard cases require hard jus Tice that they ought to be thrown in jail indefinitely and he Means to change the Law to ensure they Are. Or. Toews wants to pass a three strikes in forever Law which would make those convicted of three Vio Lent or sexual offences whether for a provincial or Federal term go to jail indefinitely. Or. Toews is overreacting. There Are Many thousands of people who have been convicted Over time for assault or. Toews will have to Start a massive project to build even More new penitentiaries and expand courthouses further for the Small time thugs. Some criminals cannot be trusted to walk the streets freely. Or. Whitmore has shown canadians a Good example of Why paedophiles in particular should meet a tougher test if they cannot or choose not to control their dangerous impulses. Case Law and the criminal code both recognize this making it easier to put paedophiles behind bars with no Assur Ance they will be free again. Crown attorneys cannot be squeamish or lax about making use of that process. Indeed they must scrutinize closely those criminals who for abundantly valid reasons can suf Fer one of the most severe penalties under the Law. Cuba after Castro cuban president Fidel Castro made meticulous plans for the succession of Rule and continuance of communist government in the event of his death. That plan kicked in this week after or. Castro who turns 80 this month was incapacitated by a Gastro intestinal problem that required surgery. Presidential authority was delegated ? for the first time in or. Castro a 47-year dictatorship ? to his brother Raul Castro who is himself 75 years old. The acting president will be assisted by three cuban communist officials dedicated to the Princi Ples espoused by Fidel. For cubans it seems to be a Case of second verse same As first. In Miami cuban exiles danced in the streets hop ing that Fidel was dead. That was premature. In Cuba cubans who were interviewed by the Western Media carefully expressed concern for the Well being of the worlds longest serving dictator. Left leaning South american governments led by Venezuela a president Hugo Chavez gushed senti mentally about or. Castro a Virtues. The european Union expressed rather Curt condolences. Canada declined comment but cuban Canadian relations Are not expected to change. The United states optimistically anticipates a future without the Caribbean Bugaboo that has bothered it for so Long. Despite the transition plan there is no question that Cuba is in for major change and that change will also affect Canada the United states and latin America. Or. Castro May have been a brutal despot but he was a Pivotal figure in hemispheric politics. Transitions often do not go Well in communist countries. Lenin appointed a troika of watchdogs to keep an Eye on his successor Stalin and in doing so As much As signed their death warrants. Mao tse Tung was succeeded by the so called gang of four whose extraordinary misrule was quickly ended by Deng Xiaoping. Cuba a transition might be less dramatic ? most adult cubans have known nothing else but the castros version of communism ? but change is inevitable and however traumatic it might be in the Short term in the Long run it can Only be for the bet Ter. Raul Castro is himself an old Man and a con Vinced communist but he is More of a Technocrat than an ideologue. His advisers Are convinced communists too but the world saw with collapse of the soviet Union How quickly the communists in Russia and Eastern Europe became unconvinced when changes occurred. The wind is now changing in Cuba. Have your say the free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697-7412. Email Hydra will grow new head i read Allan Levine a double Standard aug. 1 and i get the Point. Israel a current actions in Lebanon Are legitimate and Justi fied and Israel values human life otherwise it might just carpet bomb Lebanon and that would be that. But or. Levine can you really justify this War by invoking the examples of the British in Canada the allies in the second world War and then the United states in Afghanistan and i presume Iraq ? Arent we uncomfortably close to the old might is right argument is it really possible to legitimize War even when its on the moral High ground can we somehow pretend its a Good War i agree that no Black and White Reading of Israel a problems will suffice. How indeed to achieve Security surrounded by hostile and unwilling Neighbours so for six decades Israel has had to rely on Force to defend its very right to exist. But How Long can this go on As David Ben Gurion said we took their land and they Don to like passion also runs deep among Israel a enemies. Israel May Well destroy Hezbollah. But will not the Hydra just grow another head Canada could in a Short sighted Way Back the current israeli actions Only to be asked to do so again and again. The True moral High ground May indeed not lie in arguing about who is right but in saying enough of the killing Canada stands for peace ? and nothing less. How about that for our focus David Skinner Winnipeg demented twisted logic the column by Allan Levine double Stan Dard aug. 1 is immersed in logic so incredibly demented and twisted that i am compelled to write this response. Or. Levine presumes to justify the Vio Lence occurring in Israel and Lebanon by Cit ing examples of our past travesties that include our unforgivable exploitation of aboriginal Peoples in Canada that began 200 years ago and continued unabated in some ways even to our current time. The use of this example As a Means to defend violence anywhere under any circumstances is unacceptable to me As i am certain it is to the majority of canadians. I think almost All canadians would agree that when we read about children being killed we do not ask if they were jewish or Muslim children. We Only care that there Are innocent children being slaughtered in the Wake of our political mismanagement. And when we question the actions of Israel Afghanistan United states or even Canada that Lead to the killing of innocent children we Are not seeking political justifications. We Are simply asking ourselves and rightfully so if there might have been a better course of action that might have prevented these horrible atrocities. Imagine for example if Israel had elected to respond to the deaths and kidnappings of its soldiers with acts of Charity and support for the lebanese people. Is it possible that Lebanon might have responded by taking its own actions against Hezbollah is it subsequently possible that the lebanese with Israel a support might have been More successful at securing the israeli Border against further incursions from these terrorists letter of the Day spay and neuter dogs re tragedy no Surprise july 29. Derian Birds death was tragic. My condolences go out to his family and Community. I wish this article would have mentioned Long term solutions such As spay neuter and vaccination clinics but it did to. I am a Strong advocate of spay neuter and vaccination clinics along and if both of these things were possible could we not have prevented More than 100 innocent children from perishing or. Levine a defence of violence As a response to violence by citing our failures of the past is ridiculous and outrageous. Canadians Are better than this and we must continue to promote a vision that does not defend responding to violence with More violence which is All that Bill Graham Lloyd Axworthy and Many of our great leaders Are Sug Gesting. If we cannot find it in ourselves to do this we will be facing Many dark and sad Days ahead. You want to talk about Black and White right and wrong violence exercised against people anywhere that could be avoided is purely wrong. Doing everything in our Power including the use of super human restraint in the face of our most extreme adversity is purely right. It could to be More simple. Steve Oetting Winnipeg do something constructive re tragedy no Surprise july 29. The headline says it All. The real question that should be asked is Why Are so Many Northern reserves failing to do anything constructive about it random dog shoots Are not a Long term solution. Arguably As this Case proves they Are not even a Short term solution. A much More effective and humane Long term solution is responsible pet owner ship. That Means having your dog spayed or neutered adequately feeding your dog if you chose to have one and training your dog. Having a dog should be viewed As a Privi lege not a right. The Winnipeg humane society frequently conducts spay and neuter at Northern reserves. If Northern reserves Are truly concerned and committed to making their communities safer they need to address the Root with bringing dogs Back to the cities to be adopted. I am organizing two spay neuter and vaccination clinics in Cross Lake and Norway House next month. I want to Orga Nize clinics in More communities next year. My lifelong goal is to see a National spay neuter and vaccination clinics pro Gram implemented in communities particularly in every first nations Community across Canada. I wonder Why the dogs who live in first nations communities All look bad in this article. Some of my dog friends live in first nations communities and All of them Are Well behaved. As for the homeless puppies and dogs i have been assisting in rescuing them from Alberta and Manitoba native communities and they All were so grateful to be Given love dog food water and a Chance to be adopted in the cities. I kept in touch with some of these dogs and they All Are very Happy with their families. Hopefully these clinics and rescues reduce the population of dogs in humane ways and make communities Safe for everyone. Gayle Mckenzie of Vadazy Rescue and Sanctuary society Calgary of the problem ? rapid overpopulation ? with effective and humane Long term solutions which first and Foremost require dog owners to spay or neuter their dogs. Until such time tragedies such As this one will never be a Surprise but responsible dog owners will have a pretty Good idea of who to blame ? and it in to the victims or the dogs. Lana j. Foley Winnipeg autos Are an equal culprit for a broader perspective critical mass riders Block ambulance aug. 1reporter Bruce Owen might have reported on the fre Quency of emergency services delays caused by automobile traffic jams or unyielding motorists. Kyle Geske Winnipeg cyclists cleared Roadway re critical mass riders Block ambulance aug. 1. It absolutely appalled me to read the Arti Cle admonishing cyclists participating in critical mass for not Clearing the Way for an ambulance. I was there ? while i a sure neither reporter Bruce Owen nor Winnipeg police service spokesperson Jacqueline Chaput were ? and i can state without hesitation that not Only did we Clear the Roadway promptly we did so in an exponentially More timely and efficient manner than a Street full of cars would have been Able to do. How unfortunate that the image of such a positive movement be tainted by irresponsible one sided journalism. Kinnere Shee treet Winnipeg Winnipeg free press. Today a question previous question is the Canadian Justice system doing enough to protect children from known sex offenders How much time do you spend on the internet each Day on average yes 4% / no 96% / total 613 vote online at poll ? 2006 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian Andrew s. Ritchie / publisher newspapers limited partnership Bob Cox / editor published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Patrick Flynn / Deputy editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 ;