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6 stouffville suntribune thursday june 22 2006 istouffvuie suntnbune a metroland community newspaper boxl54stoufmlleonl4a7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director advertising distribution barry black director interactive media technology john futhey director circulation york region printing systems general manager j n ul bobdean lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller editorial were all targets diverse or not canadas miilticulturalism prop erly nurtured is its greatest strength prime minister stephen harper told the opening session of the united nations world urban forum in vancouver monday or is it a weakness that paved the way for a muslim extremist to build a terror network here some critics have blamed canadas multicultural society for permitting the suspected terrorist network to grow they could be right but in which dark corner of our national fabric are the seeds of these thoughts planted they hate open diverse democrat ic societies like ours because they want the exact opposite mr harper said adding terrorists desire societies that are closed homogeneous and dogmat ic while canadians pride ourselves on our cultural diversity we often live in small pockets associating only with those like us where does the fine line between a cultural gathering place and school for terrorist ideology exist if you believe information released by police in the days after this months arrest of 17 suspects under canadas antiterrorism act hatred was spread in what seemed like an innocuous prayer centre terrorists also hoped to reinforce their beliefs by killing regular canadians gunning down innocent shoppers or bombing buildings yet 60 per cent of us those who chose to vote did so for opposition parties just as those terror suspects who are them selves canadian citizens could have done yet they dont see it that way were all potential targets diverse or not its clear many who grow up in our multicultural society still believe in an usandthem mentality and canadian multiculturalism can contribute to that mr harper suggested canada has avoided the ghettoization and ethni cally polarized areas that exist else where this may be true for now but the thinking that gives birth to the develop ment of these areas exists in the minds of canadians critics have slammed mr harper for eliminating the minister of multicultur alism portfolio maybe we should stop promoting multiculturalism as a separate agenda we need to stop emphasizing our dif ferences as the terrorists would like us to do and start looking at canada as one nation comprised of individuals a society in which we are all unique crw whei sontribune letters to the editor is chamber of commerce backing illegal businesses re town should work with owner to keep shop in community letter by hm johnson june 8 town should permit daycare at main st dog shop letter by jj castaldi may 25 no problem if dog daycare wasnt breaking bylaw letter by rob mckenzie may 18 i was touched to read of the plight of mr mckenzies beloved family pet trying to under stand groupings of dogs where aggression and dominance allows one to rise as leader left all day at daycare leaves me surprised that mr mckenzies dog is the only one to ever be hurt considering jj castaldis letter i find the claims that the staff just want to help the com munity in producing better behaved and well- mannered dogs sheer irony considering the extent of the injury of mr mckenzies dog mr castaldi also alludes dog injuries can happen anywhere among dogs i agree it may and often does however when it happens out in the community the dog owner is held accountable and often the dog is quarantined and ultimately destroyed something is wrong when the community supports the aggressor attacker over the victim especially when the attack happens within a place of business that may be in contravention of a bylaw this brings me to the most recent letter by mrs johnson president and ceo of the whitchurch stouffville chamber of commerce what is the chamber doing supporting a busi ness that is in contravention of a bylaw is a statement being made that the chamber the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 emailjmasonyrngcom or fax 9052941538 will support businesses in our community even if they may be illegal maybe we need doggie daycares maybe we dont maybe theyd be better suited for farm like properties or acreages where there is space for multiple fenced areas to sort dogs by size or temperament and to let them run rather than cram them into our main street before the town proceeds with allowing dog daycares i believe due diligence is necessary research into the requirementsguidelines of operating a doggie daycare in a manner that affords minimal risk to all dogs in attendance should be undertaken by the town k9 in kahoots or any other dog daycare should be forced to conform to any such guide lines this research could start right here in stouffville it would be great to hear from others whose dogs may have had a negative experience in a dog daycare also it may be helpful to hear if in fact other dogs have sustained injury while in a local dog daycare facility kathymoyer stouffville editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrngcom assistant editor rick vanderlinde rvanderlindeymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dauma andrews dandrewi9ymgcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondcauymgcom retail manager staceyallen sattenyrngcom new business development manager mikerqgerson mrogersonymgcom production team leader sherry day sdayymgcom editorial 9055i3i77 fax9055l375a5 advertising 9055131717 classified i8oo7433353f 9058531765 distribution 9055131717 mtwuelil axsiboanjmttr suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary oitorstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hit and thomhill vaughan citizen the economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora georgina advocate york regjon business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing dave teetzel do we need more government in animal control our ideas about animals and how they are to be treated has changed enormously in the past 20 or so years but the basic mechanisms we use to protect them have not our expectations for the standards of animal care and protection continue to rise our awareness of animal cruelty is higher than ever mistreatment of animals is taken seriously by the public if not the courts yet animal welfare continues to be largely in the hands of arms length non governmental agencies and this is cre ating conflicts and tensions in toronto a group of veterinarians complain the toronto humane societys reluctance to euthanize animals has led to crowded and diseased conditions that case is being investigated by the ontario society for the prevention of cruelty to animals but that agency is facing controversy of its own earlier this month a small group marched outside the ontario spca offices in stouffville claiming the non profit charitable agency is a private police force accountable to no one they complain inspectors who require no more than a high school diploma and two weeks of training can search property seize animals order them destroyed and lay charges the spca notes there is an animal care review board that provides a right of appeal and any charges it lays must go through the courts and it notes police officers dont have the time or money to investigate animal cruelty complaints the spca is doing the best it can to deal with such cases given it receives no government funding so the question is if we want to give animal control laws more teeth do we want them administered by a nongov ernmental charitable agency if the answer is no are we willing to pay the cost of providing this enforce ment with our tax dollars does more government involvement necessarily mean better service or more accountability i would answer that last question no charitable agencies provide better ser vice than government and in a way are more accountable which is to say that if they depend on public donations they are account able to their donors that may be part of the problem it becomes a matter of balancing the growing sensitivity to socalled animal rights against the fact property owners also have rights it may be necessary for government to get more involved in striking that bal ance but it would be better for all con cerned if we can keep the state out of it