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economist sunsuntyibune saturdaymarch 4 2006 fcflon stouffville suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director interactive media and technology johnfuthey director advertising and distribution barry black business manager robert lazurko director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra welter york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor column smacks of hypocrisy ignorance intolerance re pass the danish media muzzled by muslims column by bruce annan feb 19 i was disappointed by the tone and impli cations of mr annans article it sheds no edu cation or understanding of the matter regard ing the global muslim pain associated with the cartoons of muhammad it smacks of hypocrisy ignorance and intol erance yes i am a muslim however i was also raised in canada since i was six and thus virtually all of my condition ing has been as a canadian i am as canadian as anyone here the article misses some very important points that could have informed your readers of the muslim angst over this issue instead of creating more confusion at best and further racism at worst this is not an issue of free speech as a soci ety we have already agreed that we do not accept unlimited free speech for example we do not question the jewish holocaust we do not accept outright slander of a people by race creed or religion the issue is not free speech but rather about accept able speech muslims view muhammad as a great prophet as we do jesus christ moses abraham and the others we would prefer that none of them were made into statues or drawn because such depictions can be manipulated how do you think noneuropeans feel when they see jesus portrayed as fairhaired and blueeyed although he was from the middle east it is not appropriate to have the prophets who were such inspirations to people be manipulated for the potential benefit of others nevertheless muslims understand such prophets are also dear to other religions and hence we respect those other peoples rights to worship as they see fit even if we disagree however muhammad is strictly a muslim prophet and he specifically asked that no such semblance of him- be made that should be respected muhammad was a very pious and dear man he is beloved by all muslims as a part of the family thus to insult and denigrate him is highly offensive and hurtful to muslims muslims around the world have been angry with the united states over the past 50 years because of its unbridled support of israel finally mr annans article speaks of the degradation of jesus christ but he implies muslims have had a hand in that this implication again illustrates his clear ignorance of muslims we revere jesus we love jesus as much as we love muhammad our holy book the quran reminds us to make no distinctions among each other and not among the prophets agaljoundi markham zf months and 15 million tax ruars later the inquiry has come 0 the starxk conclusion that- 4 lawms are darn expensive m iwoulp havesalp expensive mwm his wmm lift minimum wage leads to maximum pain my most painful duty in a quarter of a cen tury as a manager was having to close down a manufactur ing facility that employed nearly 50 people many of them were earning minimum wage some of them were developmentally handi capped it was the early 1990s when ontario was in recession and busi ness was difficult with unemploy ment at high levels the ndp decid ed it was a good time to increase the minimum wage this was the tipping point that made outsourcing my firms processes more costeffective in the face of competition and the alternative of becoming a non profit business my hand was forced through five years of ndp eco nomic incompetence the business communitys motto was stay alive til 95 and now theyre touting bob rae for federal liberal leader it is to weep its said if all the economists in the world were laid endtoend they still wouldnt reach a consen sus however about 90 per cent of them agree on one thing increasing the minimum wage leads to higher unemployment and is an extremely ineffective tool to reduce poverty last month the ontario gov ernment increased the general minimum wage from 745 to 775 an hour the third increase since dalton mcguintys liberals came to power next year its up again to 8 labour minister steve peters claims to be helping the lowest- paid and most vulnerable workers because it is to ontarios econom ic advantage to see that our work ers are paid a fair wage fact is the most vulnerable workers are the ones who will be hurt as their marginal value to their employers makes them unaf- fordable a fair wage is actually bruce annan whatever a business is prepared to pay for a job a worker is prepared to accept if raising the rate to 775 can help the working poor without damaging effect then why not take it to 10 or 20 and only a politi cian could pretend a fair wage is the same in richmond hill as in sault ste marie in markham as in cornwall who gets paid minimum wage according to statistics canada half are aged 15 to 19 and another 15 per cent aged 20 to 24 most people getting a raise are kids living at home and earning spending money as this newspaper reported industry superstars such as frank stronach and hugh heron not to mention this columnist began work at minimum wage the first job pays off in experience far more than in dollars but surely businesses can afford a paltry 30 cents an hour cant they surveys have shown most peo ple believe companies make a 30 to 50 per cent profit on sales in fact the ontario restaurant hotel motel association reports the aver age pretax profit among its bar pub and tavern section for instance is less than 3 per cent of revenue perhaps you cant find pity in your heart for business operators indeed its the poor you should pity when minimum wage increas es both put people out of work and drive up prices as economist donald deere wrote in 1998 to add insult to injury for lowdncome families the minimum wage increases the cost of goods and ser vices produced with low wage labour goods and services that are purchased disproportionately by lowincome families a fair wage is actually whatever a business is prepared to pay for a job a worker is prepared to accept if governments want to increase employment help people get their feet on the first rung of a career and let business succeed they should nt raise the minimum wage they should abolish it bruce annan is a york region writer and consultant he can be reached as bruceannangmailcom comments regard ing this column for the letters page can be sent to newsroomtheliberalcom letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters- submissions must be less than 400 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 cmc ave 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