The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 18

LETTERS A18 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1999 eligions f-( 9. mi i sum E-i i opium masses 4 iy YM VV J-t I New law holds youth accountable for crimes The Youth Services Bureau congratulates the Citizen on its excellent editorial for PM," March 12) regarding the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The bureau provides a range of young offender services and would like to highlight the strengths of this proposed legislation. Under the Young Offender's Act, many youth are currently being incarcerated for non-violent crimes. Canada has one of the highest youth incarceration rates in the world, and most provinces have not even come close to fully implementing the non-custodial, community-based measures of the Youth Offenders Act.

There are no hard data supporting positive outcomes for this "custodial" model of youth justice. To make matters worse, there is a growing gap between the public's image of youth crime (as being mostly vio-, lent and escalating out of control) and the reality of youth crime (as being mainly non-violent and decreasing). Notwithstanding these issues, it appears that the public has lost con- fidence in the Youth Offenders Act, and a change is warranted. First, more serious alternatives are needed for those youth who commit murder, aggravated assaults and other similar crimes. By extending the presumption of au- tomatic transfer to adult court for the sentencing of 14- and 15-year-olds charged with the most serious of crimes, the proposed Youth Criminal Justice Act clearly heightens the accountability of young people involved with criminal behaviour.

Secure custody facilities are nec-, essary to prevent the most seriously violent youth from harming themselves and others and to provide consequences, along with clear terrence, for serious crimes of vio-, lence. Second, community-based responses to crime for youth who have not committed acts of serious violence, including alternative mea- I 1 ii? ilJialiTiilllliiliiiiiliiillliilliiTiililri'iliiiiiiliil 1 it nrnir-iiiii t'liilll airnniiirnir'- Ottawa's youth services bureau applauds Justice Minister Anne McLellan for her youth-crime reforms, writes Mark Totten. sures, diversion, youth justice committees, probation and mandatory counselling have cost-effective, proven results, including a reduction in recidivism and reintegration of young offenders back into school and employment. Given the decreasing rates of youth crime in general and major youth violence in particular, these options are justifiably the corner Economists must change mad-hatter accounting offer to the Neo-Darwinism is not leading us into moral bankruptcy, nor is it likely to do so, ever. We are already there and without its influence 'final' death of God," March 3).

like Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, believe that blind faith is one of the world's great evils. For undeniable proof, one has only to look at the religious history of the last 2,000 years to see what religious beliefs have cost human beings in unbelievable suffering and exploitation. Religion has in the past and continues to promote the very evil it professes to denounce. Faith in a supreme being is basically nothing more than a mind-control narcotic to ease the sometimes unbearable pain that human beings are faced with in their lives. An enlightened man once aptly described religion as the "opium of the masses" a very fitting analogy.

It is somewhat intriguing that the writer of the article, Garth Wood, like many others, always relates the "superman" concept to nazism. I wonder what his reaction was to the story of Romanian handicapped orphans featured in the Citizen recently or to the feature stories of a rampant slave trade in Africa. How is religion helping the genocide in Yugoslavia and parts of Africa? I cannot comprehend how any supreme being, supposedly all-powerful and loving, could look upon the greed, savagery and other unimaginable evil on this planet and do nothing. We are constantly reassured by the religious leaders that the meek shall inherit the Earth. I can just hear the resounding laughter in the board rooms of the world's powerful, greedy and uncaring corporations as well as in the caucus sessions of governments and the secret haunts of the military chiefs of staff.

The gravest of all evils is the reassurance when all else fails, "it is God's way." Mr. Wood states in a nightmare neo-Darwinist world, accountability would be dead. I challenge him to show me were there is any accountability in this world today. There is none. Belief in a supreme being is, for all intents and purposes, the result of Shania-invasion Citizen columnist Ron Corbett unstoppable Shania: Shania Twain's singleminded drive is the key to her success," March 13) wrote that Shania Twain had climbed the ladder of success so quickly that, in his words, "Poland was invaded once in more time than it took the girl from Timmins to conquer Nashville," alluding to the German blitzkrieg invasion of Poland to start the Second World War.

I did not understand why I was offended by this comment until I realized how equally insulting it would sound if Mr. Corbett had written, "it took the Germans more time to clear Dieppe of Canadians than it took the girl from Timmins to conquer Nashville." rant in the Glebe recently and there was no recycling box. Instead, I was told to put my juice bottle in the garbage. If so many Canadians are too lazy to even recycle, I can see little hope of our nation solving more complex, challenging environmental issues. Japan, which is a nation not renowned for its environmental ac rather than one of intelligent and informed opinion on those complex questions.

The remarks of an official of a third country neighbouring Turkey, although more sophisticated than the previous ones, are completely irrelevant to the issues dealt with in this article. One also should take into consideration that this same country was caught very recently red-handed, trying to hide the brutal terrorist chief Ocalan in its embassy in Kenya, a significant display of its support for a terrorist organization in contradiction of its commitments under numerous international agreements on the suppression of terrorism. And finally, the absence of even one sentence reflecting the point of view of the most closely concerned actors, which is the Turkish side on this important issues, warrants skepticism about the fairness, impartiality and accuracy of the article. This article surprised me because one would expect a respected paper as the Citizen to give an in-depth report that would not rely on black and white answers to such a complex and multi- fear. We don't want to "lose out" on Judgment Day.

I choose to believe in my fellow man and to be judged by them. My heaven or my hell are right here on this earth. Henry J. Fischer, Spencerville We call It' God In his March 7 letter Rick Mortimer states: "I believe humankind could establish a morally meaningful culture without a belief in God." The problem with this statement is that it is ultimately self-coptradictory. One may think it is possible to have a morally meaningful society without God, but can one have such a society without a belief in morality? Without belief in right and wrong, in ultimate values? Of course not.

I am sure Mr. Mortimer would acknowledge that to have a morally meaningful culture requires a belief that ethics is founded on something other than human instinct or whim. But what is that "something?" Authority of the state? What if the state requires you to take part in genocide? Dominant culture? What if the dominant culture says that sacrificing children is okay? Atheist philosophers have tried in vain to come up with a real foundation for ethics. Why not look at the answer that the-istic philosophers have proposed, namely that goodness is ultimately real and rooted in a Being who is infinitely good? The other question Mr. Mortimer posed "Who made God" has been thoroughly answered many' times.

We know the universe had a beginning, that it is a created thing atheist philosophers respond by saying that it was created by nothing, ie. that it had no cause. They prefer to de-' ny the laws of logic than to admit that God exists. We know that whatever brought time, space and matter into existence must be outside of time. If it is outside of time, it does not undergo change' like a temporal thing; it can have no" beginning, middle or end.

It simply is. We call this "it" God. Travis Dumsday, Nepean remark insults me Recently Poland breathed a sigh of relief as it celebrated its inclusion into NATO, the first legitimate guarantee that the international community would protect Poland as a brother against any invaders nations join NATO: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic hail protection against invasion," March 13). This is also a sensitive time for Poles reflecting back on a very dark period in their history, mourning but also thanking the millions of Poles who died fighting off the invaders, ensuring that this day would be possible. My only request is for Mr.

Corbett to use a little more tact in his future articles. Eric Kusmierczyk, Ottawa tions abroad, recycles 90 per cent of its potential waste. I wish I was much more but I think too many of my fellow citizens are lazy, greedy and blinded by their materialism to be even remotely concerned about their impact on the. planet. Katherine Dacombe, -Gloucester NATO ally dimensional question.

AliSavut, Ottawa First Counsellor, Turkish Embassy No savings made I read with some trepidation the. March 6 article about Canada being' blasted for ammunition given td. Turkey. Putting aside the humane aspect of this deal, let's do a little quick' math. When I was a lowly gunner 48 years' ago, we were told a 155-mm shell cost the government $246 each and our usage was strictly monitored; we were once fined as a gun crew for firing three over that allotment.

Could not those surplus shells be! sold to Turkey even at half price? doing so, it might not have been necessary for a community of retired Canadian servicemen in a western province to take up a collection of their old combat boots to give to our young troops departing for Bosnia. Canada seems to draw some real losers as their appointed ministers of defence, but Art Eggleton tops the list. 1 John O.Rabb, Smiths Falls THE CANADIAN PRESS stone of the proposed Youth Criminal Justice Act. We join the Citizen in applauding Justice Minister Anne McLellan and hope that the Citizen will continue this insightful, balanced reporting on the issue of youth crime. Dr.

Mark Totten, Ottawa Director of Ottawa Services, Youth Services Bureau over-processing and long distance transportation. It is time to remove goverment subsidies on pesticides and chemical fertilizers and to provide assistance to farmers who convert to more chemical-free farming. As for the economists, their economic indicators such as the GDP are part of a mad-hatter accounting system that adds but never subtracts. It doesn't take into consideration the losses such as depleted fisheries, stripped forests, polluted air, high crime rates, or one million dead songbirds. It's time for some new indicators that tell the real story.

George Brown, es. My husband's employer, the federal government, namely the Department of National Defence, hasn't recycled at the last three bases to which he was posted. Last year I visited Moncton, New Brunswick, where my parents now live and there was no recycling program in place for a city of thousands of people. I visited a restau I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after reading two headlines on the Citizen's front page on March 6. The articles were "Economy climbing to 'golden' heights" and "The killing fields," which dealt with the fact that one million Canadian songbirds will die from the use of the remaining supply of a banned pesticide.

The article about the economy stated that economists predict a return of the "heydays of the '60s." Dead birds and pesticides. It's vu! Ontario has some of the richest farmland in the country; yet the quality of our food is decreasing due to heavily subsidized chemical farming, We are too blinded by our materialism to bother recycling UN should focus on economics to help women On International Women's Day on March 8, the United Nations "linked" the world to a live video conference which not only displayed the progress in technology, but the progress minimizing violence toward women. This campaign raised the issue of the necessity for legislation to further our progress. However, how would legislation and conventions change the attitudes and customs that exist in patriarchal countries such as Mali and Afghanistan. It is perhaps unrealistic to believe that a person's perspectives andor practices can be reformed through legislation alone, specifically when implemented through foreign organizations.

What would be more realistically efficient is for the UN to serve as a "link" between non-government organizations and the governments for the countries where progress is minimal or nonexistent. NGOs could be delegated the responsibility of developing programs such as micro-credit. This specific approach is non-profit that has enabled the establishment and growth of very small businesses by groups that are disadvantaged by gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Such programs could offer women access to financial credit to become self-employed, which would raise their standard of living and their status. Women would play significant roles in society and be less vulnerable to injustices such as violence.

Progress would be remarkable. Julie Aube, North Bay Letters to the Editor We welcome letters, which must include full name, an address and phone number for verification, We condense and edit for clarity and style. The preferred length ranges from 50 to 300 words. Cite page and date for articles mentioned. Mail: Letters to the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, 1101 Baxter Road, Ottawa, K2C3M4 Fax: 596-8458 E-mail: Th Citizen Online: www.ottawacitizen.com Letter Editor: Brian Sarjeant, 596-3785 Copyright in letters and other materials sent to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the Publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them In print, electronic and other forms, for Thrkey to get ammo from its David Suzuki said, "People put their blue box out and think they've done their bit." Nature of David Suzuki," March 14).

I would suggest this statement is too generous to a lot of Canadians, for whom even the simple act of recycling is too much work. I look around my home area and I see few of my neighbours putting out their blue box It's normal The March 6 article "Turks using Canadian ammo vs Kurds: critics" by Alistair Steele was both surprising and disappointing. For a sound and in-depth analysis of the questions Mr. Steele is investigating, the following basic facts should be kept in mind: First, Turkey and Canada are allies within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Turkey is a parliamentary democracy situated, unlike Canada, in a difficult region.

Therefore, it is only normal that the co-operation between two countries includes the military field. We feel that no extraneous matters should affect the excellent relations existing between the two countries. Second, contrary to what is suggested in the article, the Turkish citizens of Kurdish ethnic origin are not discriminated against and many have risen to the highest political positions in Turkey. Their representatives are the parliamentarians elected by their votes to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), on the other hand, whose chief Abdullah Ocalan was recently arrested, is a notorious terrorist organization which indiscriminantly murders the very people it claims to represent: Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin.

An overwhelming majority of the Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent do not support or want anything to do with the PKK or Ocalan. Against this background, we feel that Mr. Steele's article reveals both an inexcusable lack of knowledge on the subject and a clear anti-Turkish bias for the following reasons: The 155-millimetre shells which, according to the article, were transferred to Turkey, are artillery ammunition for heavy weapons and as such cannot be used against civilians as alleged in the article. In fact, Turkish troops fight against PKK terrorism in the southeastern part of the country and to depict it as repression of citizens of Kurdish descent in Turkey would be an utterly false statement, The comments attributed to a spokesperson for Ottawa's Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, who affirms "to know" that Turks are willing to kill thousands of people (and) willing to lie to NATO" constitute an example of a gratuitous insult.