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economist sunsuntribunejan 5 2005 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffviile on l4a 775 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert utzurko director production interactive media john iuthey advertising director retail ieyeh saus nicole fletcher advekhsing director ciavsieied him estate eviwis management cord iaolucci dim hibui ion director circulation harry black dirixrioh circuiaiion systkms lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region prlveing general manager bob dean letters to enclaves not answer re immigration boom to continue jan 25 i am afraid to voice my opinion as political correctness has gone too far in markham but after reading what ratna omidvar executive director of the toronto region immigrant employment council had to say at an inclusivity summit in york region i must respond inclusivity is word being thrown around a lot these days but unfortu nately its being used in the wrong way what we have in markham are enclaves areas where huge sections of a particular ethnic group settle this is neither diversity nor inclu sive ms omidvar jokes she should live in markham because she is five feet tall making reference to the fact a bank lowered its counter to accommodate the typically lower height of its cus tomers she is making the all too common arrogant assumption people who already live here dont matter and the new people moving in are to be catered to exclusively has she considered at all the people who already live here will anyone speak out without being afraid of being labeled a racist if one comes to a new country and either doesnt speak the language of the the editor host country or forces traditions to change is that not intolerant of the peo ple already here david rout markham unicef in demand during these troubled times the united nations childrens fund has been called upon more than ever to help countless children in warravaged countries the tsunami disaster makes it even more evident the relief efforts by unicef are in demand the less fortunate children of the world are better cared for because of the sale of unicef christmas cards and gifts by local volunteers sincere thanks are extended to the many volunteers who staffed the kiosk at markville shopping centre they included members from the st andrews united church grace anglican church st andrews presbyterian church local high school students and friends of unicef many children around the world are able to survive because of their support to the many people who made pur chases or gave donations we say a spe cial thank you markham once again has extended its hand of support to those children desperately in need of our help jstorey markham theyre your backup singers sir paul re not taking any chances with ikmwiwaialnctmnsi samesex marriage ottawas convenient distraction samesex marriage most married people have been having the same sex for years marriage is a wonderful institu tion and some gays are desperate to be in an institution too as you may have heard the most pressing issue facing canada is gay weddings its top of the agenda for our parliament after a six- week holiday the federal government this week intro duced a bill to legalize marriage between two people of the same sex the debate makes for great spectator sport in that both the governing liberals and opposing conservatives are divided internally and locally most tories opposed while most tories are opposed to same- sex marriage newmarketaurora mp belinda stronach is in favour and while most grits are in favour richmond hill mp bryon wilfert is opposed prime minister paul martin says liberals dont have to support the bill unless theyre in the cabinet or would like to be in the cab inet someday or would like their nomina- bruce annan tion papers signed in the next election which hell call if the bill is defeated the sweet irony is some of the stiffest opposition to gay marriage is among recent immigrants the franchise liberals so effectively courted for so long when i was young homosexuality was the love that dare not speak its name now its the love that wont shut the hell up for months mainstream media glee fully ran pictures of men kissing each other as successive provinces allowed gay marriage some canadian opposition to samesex marriage is simply a backlash as in enough already we know some people are gay and were glad you have equal rights now but quit nibbing our nose in your lifestyle thanks awhile ago i asked a gay friend if she and her partner of two decades planned to wed now that it is legal in ontario we have both our names on mortgage and other documents she said we dont need another piece of paper to show were committed but the radical few will never be satisfied theyre motivated not by love of equality but by hatred of the majority and its traditions this is why religious groups are skeptical of government assurances they wont be forced to conduct gay weddings that may be true until the first human rights chal lenge ends up before our leftist supreme court there was a simple and elegant solution proposed more than a halfcentury ago when our society started down the real slip pery slope of marriage disintegration no- fault divorce commonlaw relationships outofwedlock children get the state out of the marriage business entirely let city hall issue civil union docu ments allow only religions to conduct wed dings according to their individual respec tive rules thats what the great british essayist cs lewis proposed in his book mere christianity there ought to be two dis tinct kinds of marriage he wrote one governed by the state with rules enforced on all citizens the other governed by the church with rules enforced by her on her own members dont hold breath dont hold your breath waiting for gov ernment to concede control its in the interests of the politicians to fill front pages with samesex marriage to dis tract us from more important issues indeed a cynic might suggest mr martin would be happy to call an election over defending human rights and campaign against those western religious bigot conser vatives before the gomery inquiry identifies more lying stealing liberals bruce annan a former york region publisher is an area writer and consultant bniceannangmailcom letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters submissions must be less than 100 words and include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 34 civic ave box 154 matonrnrfn1 editorial editor jim mason jmasonymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil voneilyrngcom events management shows shoyrstfyrng corn t t t t production manager pain nichols pnicholsyrngcom advertising classified manager ann campbell aamwbellyrnjscom retail manager staceyallen tn tsfuenynigcoyi managing director new business flyer sales dawna andrews 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