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Phone: 416-699-1335
300 Coxwell Avenue
PO Box 3037
Toronto, Ontario
M4L 2A0 Canada
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OUR VISITORS: We will do the same. Occasionally, we will make comments of rebuttal — hopefully, not as smarmy as those in the Toronto Sun. We keep our comments brief . . .
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Judge's Behavior Matters Re: Why treat judges differently? Letter Sept. 5 James Marshall misses the point. This issue is not about your average consenting Canadians making poor choices. This is about a judge, whose job it is to judge others. I believe that it does indeed “reduce her ability to do her job.” Ask yourself this: If a decision affecting your life, or that of a family member, hung in the balance pending a judgment from Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas, would you feel awash with confidence, knowing that she has previously displayed such incredibly poor judgment?
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Trying to Get Along
I’m a Fat White
Guy in a Suit (FWGS). I’m loud and proud. Get
used to it. As a member of my minority
“community,” I just want to make sure
Torontonians understand not all us FWGS will be
voting for the same candidate for mayor. Sure, I
love hot dogs and beer. Of course, I love the
Argos, Leafs and Jays. Don’t get me wrong. But I
also love my city. I love living in a place that
welcomes people from all over the world to help
build one of the most open, dynamic and
successful cities ever. It’s not always easy to
get along with others who are not FWGS. They
can’t help it. But I’ve been trying really hard.
I enjoy eating a pita or falafel with my
neighbors, and they sometimes enjoy a hot dog
and beer with me. Heck, even some of them are
Leafs fans. On Oct. 25, when I cast my ballot
for mayor, I won’t be thinking just of myself.
I’ll be voting for the Toronto that welcomes
everybody, including FWGS, to be the best we can
be and reach for the top. Michael McCamus Toronto (Vote for Don Andrews)
Wrong place and time?
Re “Woman grazed by stray bullet” (Sept. 2): A
woman was grazed by a bullet in Toronto in the
middle of the afternoon, and police say she was
just in the wrong place at the wrong time. No!
As a peaceful and responsible member of society
going about her business, she was in exactly the
right place. It was the thug with a gun who was
in the wrong place doing the wrong thing. Look
at the money and effort we waste on gun
registries and proposed gun bans while gangs
take over the city. Keith Linton Orono, Ontario
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NDP and the Gun Registry The Star’s editorial pages raged last week against Jack Layton for having the audacity to let New Democrat MPs like me represent my Timmins-James Bay constituents in votes on the long-gun registry. Your writers flatly trivialized rural, northern and aboriginal concerns. That’s what the registry debate has become: divisive and dug-in. But I’m stubborn enough to hope we can build bridges instead. Most Canadians share the same goals. We abhor gun violence. We want our homes and communities safer. Rural men and women understand where urban Canadians are coming from. They aren’t like Heather Mallick’s “yapping gun-freedom brigade.” Rural folk are disturbed about the rise of handgun violence and they’re ready to get behind national gun control measures. The problem is they’ve had ample experience with the frustrating fumblings of the gun registry. Jack Layton is looking to build bridges between rural and urban. That starts with moving past black-and-white portrayals of the facts. He has listened to Canadians and proposes strengthening laws to protect people from gun violence, while ensuring that rural and aboriginal Canadians don’t feel like criminals. Instead of all-or-nothing brinkmanship that wedges people even further apart, let’s get behind solutions that work. Not next year. Now.
If the state has no business in the bedroom of consenting Canadians, why should judges be treated differently? This does not reduce her ability to do her job; it proves she is human like everyone else.
James Marshall, Toronto ___________________________
Guns on the street
Re “Is this justice for Jane Creba?” (Editorial, Aug. 29): Surely it is not and especially not for those who will grieve her death forever. Five years of press coverage because a 15-year-old popular student with a very bright future, who was just shopping on Boxing Day on crowded Yonge Street, became an innocent victim in the cross-fire of a gang war. A good example of the tragedy that happens on the streets everywhere because we still haven’t found away to get all guns off the street. Isn’t there a law against possessing and carrying an unregistered weapon? The long gun registry is supposed to help. Of course no gang member or criminal is stupid enough to register their weapon. “Tougher-on crime” legislation from the government is criticized. So what is the solution?
John Schenck, Toronto ___________________________
Salim stands out
Add my thanks to Salim Mansur for his honest, insightful and courageous columns each week. As a Muslim, and with his intellect as a professor of political science, Mansur is the most qualified person I have read on Israeli- Palestinian issues, and now the debate on the proposed mosque at the 9/11 site in New York. Maybe young Muslims will come to realize jihad and Shania law are obsolete as Mansur has said.
Hugh Allan, Waterloo, Ont. ___________________________
Park Facilities Disgusting My family and I visited the children’s play area of High Park on Aug.18 and used the restrooms nearby. We were all disgusted by the condition of these facilities. The men’s washroom had a plugged urinal, only cold water available at the filthy sinks and the only hand drier was broken. In the women’s washroom one of the cubicles had no door and, again, only cold water at the sinks, which were in need of repair. Not a very good impression for residents and visitors of our world class city. Joan
Bass, Toronto ___________________________
Respect for Taxpayers Re “Rocco bolsters bid with Kinsella” (Aug. 31): I see Warren Kinsella, Rocco Rossi’s new campaign addition, condemns Rob Ford’s mannerisms in a demeaning and scathing attack. No reflection whatsoever on Ford, but I would opt for a Neanderthal cave dweller who actually and honestly respected my role as a tax-paying citizen of Toronto, over a silver-tongued Adonis (no reflection on Rossi) with little more than a sense of drama and the absurd.
Dennis Forbes, Toronto ___________________________
Glenn Beck's Fans
As a practicing
Reform Baptist I have a problem with evangelical
Christians who want to get involved in the
political arena. They should understand that the
United States' supreme law of the land is its
Constitution and Jefferson's 1786 Bill For
Establishing Religious Freedom. ___________________________
Poll Tainted The article states, “the results suggest large numbers of Torontonians” (from a poll of 400 people) a total of 32 per cent (128 people) claimed to support Rob Ford, with smaller amounts for the other candidates, and with 21 per cent (84 people) undecided. Am I the only one who thinks it totally asinine to give space in a newspaper to such tiny samplings of opinion?
George Begley, Brampton, Ont. ___________________________
Nazis and Nietzsche ___________________________
Do We Need the Gun Registry? ___________________________
Police Chiefs and Guns ___________________________
Sinking union dues Kudos to Mindelle Jacobs for exposing CUPW’s myopic and selective narrow mindedness in support of sending a so-called “Canadian” flotilla to Gaza (“Loony Left’s flotilla way off course,” Aug. 24). It should be called the CUPW flotilla, as the majority of Canadians, I’m sure, do not agree with this nonsense to demonize Israel. If I were a member of CUPW, I’d be questioning my union as to why, and how much, of my union dues they are using on this idiotic venture.
Ken Rowan, Toronto ___________________________
We Can't Win in Afghanistan ___________________________
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Phone: 416-699-1335
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