Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 13, 2007, Winnipeg, Manitoba Kindness better than abuse re reluctance to Wear Hijab linked to teens slaying dec. 12. Atiya Ahsan expresses what is True for parents of All cultural backgrounds including those who have generations of Western family history if the parents become too strict thatus always a recipe for trouble. I believe All parents islamic or other Are anxious to know that their children and particularly their daughters even in an Era of politically Correct platitudes Are not hopping around in what we consider lewd behaviour. Behaviour is the concept that parents should be concerned about not Hijab or tight clothing. It is perfectly Normal for Young people to be hype aware of their appearance and to equate the image they project with self. I strongly suspect that Young people when dressed in what adults perceive As Overly tight and revealing clothing Are innocent of any intention other than just wanting to look Good. An inference from their clothing that they Are not Good girls would i suspect be really mortifying and hurtful to these kids especially coming from their own parents. Kind guidance is what an emotionally healthy Loving Parent would offer and not abuse for lewd behaviour that is not actually in evidence. Linda Christina Petruk Winnipeg pick tones victims let Down i am simply boggled As to Why the jury in the Robert Pickton Case convicted him of six counts of murder and not one of them in the first degree. The second degree sentences he was Given mean that the jury determined he went out picked up a prostitute and spontaneously killed six times. How did the jury come to the conclusion that All the murders were spontaneous after a while his actions become a pattern and in a sense those girls were let Down by our Justice system. Gaetan Harris Winnipeg Pinawa reactor absurd re Hydro Boss sceptical of nuclear proposal dec. 10. After 35 years of following the antics of atomic Energy of Canada ltd., i would say that building a reactor in Pinawa to provide Power to Manitoba is As absurd As it gets. Not Only would it Cost $ 6 billion to build but it would produce the same nuclear waste that is the Achilles Heel of the Industry. Decl has no effective Means of dealing with it. The most glaring example is the waste management area presently at Pinawa. Huge deteriorating Concrete canisters next to the Winnipeg River contain High level radioactive waste from i Nawas operations and Ontario reactors. These Are near the end of their life Cycle and contain plutonium which is toxic to humans virtually forever. The Manitoba government needs to Tell Pinawa to Stop wasting its time with such frivolous pipe dreams and Start putting some Cash into cleaning up the Nasty mess it has left behind for future Manitoban. Dave Taylor Winnipeg Bon Jovi or miss Piggy my friends would Call me a music aficionado. So it was with great anticipation that i attended the Bon Jovi concert at the its Centre on sunday night. The band was excellent but the experience was not. Ronald Mcdonald backed by miss Piggy and the puppets could have been on stage for All that i heard. I did not pay top Dollar to be inflected with Canadian idol wannabes belting out the words to virtually every song and totally obscuring the Bon Jovi sound except for the Odd instrumental country Western crossover when the giggling 20 somethings would dominate my ear space with cackling musings. My Darth Vader death stare silenced the culprits immediately around me but i could not control the other 15,000 others in attendance. The next time i want an equivalent experience i will venture Down to the local watering Hole just before closing and enjoy Karaoke at its finest. Alan Ganske Lockport Conrad meet Edmund throughout the whole miserable Saga of the Conrad Black trial i heard no mention of lord Black who claims to be truly erudite quoting Edmund Burke although Burke was certainly pertinent when he said Back in 1795, it is not what a lawyer tells me i May do but what humanity reason and Justice Tell me i must do. Conrad was receiving advice from his lawyers at All times and he has stubbornly maintained that everything he did was Legal. Much of it was apparently Legal but it certainly was not ethical. Unfortunately one of the first lessons lawyers learn is that morals have no place in the courtroom. William f. Rolls Emerson Hitler co opted religion re Hitchens lays Holiday egg dec. 11. While rabbi Lawrence m. Pinsker is mostly on Mark with his Rebuff of Christopher Hitchens he is mistaken about the godlessness of Hitler and the nazi party. Although there was an anti Church Wing of the nazi party unofficially led by Martin Bormann atheism was not a generally held belief. Paganism wrestled with Christian positivism. Hitler shrewdly co opted German religious belief and frequently portrayed himself As being borne of Providence How Lucky i am that Providence sent me to the desperate German people As a Saviour in their hour of need. Hitler May Well have come to believe in his messianic import in his later years but he deliberately exploited religious belief to overcome German moral inhibitions to his Agenda of ruthlessness. Michael Melanson Winnipeg end shameful situation re education on Reserve nov. 29. As a member of the Manitoba Council for exceptional children i would wholeheartedly support your analysis of the discrepancies in funding and services encountered by students on versus off reserves. Particularly exceptional students those with special gifts and or cognitive or other challenges on reserves Bear the Brunt of the Lack of funding for education on Canadas first nations. This shameful situation is absolutely unacceptable in our country More so because we sport a substantial Federal budget surplus. If politicians Are not willing to rectify this situation for the Sake of the children perhaps they should consider doing so for the Sake of the Economy. The importance of providing students with an education that will equip them for lifelong living and learning is widely recognized and the Impact of students not reaching their full potential is clearly evident. Rudy Amtman chair Public policy committee Manitoba Council for exceptional children Winnipeg of life and death a Queens Bench judge decided tuesday to take some time to think about the request of the Golubchyk family to maintain life support for their father. It is a difficult Case As most of these kind Are because it pits the belief of a family against the ethics and medical opinion of a doctor both parties believe they Are acting in the patients interest. The conflict has dropped the life and death decision in the hands of an Independent arbiter. But or. Justice Perry sch Ulmanis decision is unlikely to be entirely satisfactory because one party will lose and that is a rough Way to resolve a conflict. The fact that the Case reached the courts shows that sometimes despite honest efforts the decision to withdraw medical care from a person must be taken out of the hands of those most intimately involved. Judge Schulman is Wise to take time in exercising his authority. There have been similar Legal cases in Canada and in other jurisdictions that have upheld the doctors authority to decide on withholding or withdrawing treatment. They respected the doctors medical expertise acting within a professional code of conduct. A physician should not be forced to deliver care he or she believes contrary to a duty of care. The doctor in this Case makes the express Point that while sensitive to the family is needs his duty is to his patient Samuel Golubchyk who he says is in the process of dying but whose death rather than life is being prolonged by a Respirator. But doctors can and have been wrong As shown by similar cases in which patients return to life after being declared dead or dying. That highlights the critical value of alternative medical opinions and judicial oversight. The Golubchyk family has had three medical opinions now according to the Grace general Hospital one of which came from a physician the family itself solicited. Those opinions Are in agreement. What judge Schulman is being asked to determine Here is whether the end is near for or. Golubchyk or whether it is being held up by artificial Means that Are without Benefit to the patient and Are drawing out the inevitable. The College of physicians and surgeons of Manitoba is about to adopt a formal statement on a doctors responsibility to patients in situations such As this. Hospitals have informal processes that Point patients or their families to other resources such As advocates to help them weigh the opinions and resolve their concerns. Despite the refinement of policy and the developing jurisprudence some disputes will continue to land in court. Loved ones remain hopeful and doctors Are fallible. That May not take the decision out of a doctors hands but it allows for a necessary impartial review of the care and opinions As to whether medical treatment is benefiting a life or drawing out a sure death. A matter of Choice Asa Parvez was it seems a lot like any 16 year old rebelling against family and trying to fit into the High stress peer pressured society of the High school hallway. But that common struggle took on a lethal tone for the Mississauga teenager. She died tuesday allegedly because she spurned her family is demands that she Wear the Hijab. Her father is charged with murder. The idea that a Young woman would be killed for refusing to Bow to religious or cultural tradition is repellent. The police investigation continues but it is disturbing that a number of her High school friends report that is. Parvez Felt threatened by family members and fled the Home More than once As the conflict with her devout Muslim father escalated Over her social habits and dress. Friends say she feared for her life that they had known this for some weeks. The Many shelters immigrant Aid organizations and social services designed to protect the vulnerable failed to prevent is. Par Vezys death. After decades of society yes experience with Zero tolerance for Domestic violence some Homes remain impervious to these Laws. This can be especially True for immigrants who Lack English and who Are pressured to conform to oppressive religious or cultural traditions. Some canadians will insist that this death underscores the need for Canada to Force immigrants to conform to Canadian values and to ban hijabs in tabs and burqas from the streets and schools. There Are proposals reflecting this View on offer in Quebec where a contentious debate on the reasonable accommodation of religious and cultural traditions has spurred unreasonable demands. Such advocates appear unaware that extremism takes Many forms. There Are some 600,000 plus muslims in Canada and Many new immigrant families struggle with the tension created in the Home when Young people Are occult rating adopting the ways of their new land while parents cling to their traditions. It must be noted that in All of this is. Par Vezys death stands As a rarity. Immigrants should be free to practise their cultural traditions and women should be Able to Wear what they choose Freedom and Choice being the operative words. When exercising Choice becomes a deadly Pursuit Canadian Laws must step in. Is. Par Vezys death highlights the fact that sometimes Law intervenes too late. Canada in welcoming immigrants must press for social integration and awareness of the country is Laws and liberties is primary in this. Social services must be tailored to reach those in need so no person Dies trying to enjoy the freedoms that the vast majority of canadians take for granted. Bob Cox / publisher Margo Goodhand / editor Patrick Flynn / Deputy editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 136 no 34 � 2007 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697 7000 a member of the Manitoba press Council 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. E mail letters free press. My. Ca letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg free press or its staff. H ave y our s a Winnipeg free press poll to Days question vote online at wow. Winnipeg repress. Com family 75% / doctors 25% / total 1530 previous question who should have the final say on taking a should Taser use be restricted As the ramp watchdog rec terminally ill patient off life support systems commends Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion e editorials Equality of civil rights a 10 w Winnipeg f ree p Resst thursday december 13, 2007 comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. My. Ca Winnipeg repress. Com letter of the Day put Reg in Hall of Fame re Riverton Rifle Learned lesson the hard Way dec. 7. I would like to thank Neil Stevens for the column about Reg Leach and his past alcohol problem. I have known Reg since he was 15 years old and he has always been a perfect gentleman. I tried last year through de Chynoweth member of the Hall of Fame Board to have Reg inducted to the hockey Hall of Fame. There apparently is a formula they go by to be inducted such As a combination of How Many nil games were played and goals scored. His former alcohol problem a snot mentioned in or. Chino Weths reply. Considering Regis hockey record his still standing most playoff goals scored record and his years of helping Young people i believe Reg is a very Strong candidate for the Hall. He has travelled thousands of Miles promoting hockey and leading a Good example for Young kids. I encourage everyone to voice their opinion and hopefully have Reg honoured. Wanda Ginnell Denare Beach sask. Canadian press archives Reggie Leach right with legendary goaltender Johnny Bower in 1976 ;