The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 11

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2009 All Adogofablog I Economic heart The zeromeanszero blog returns i By supporting women in the to the innuendo era of the i- poorest countries, the G20 can Red Scare and Joseph McCarthy. lessen the economic fallout there. Ken Gray, A12 if' V-U Maureen McTeer, A13 i Charter can be basis to deny polygamy Stakeholders need to agree on what's best for Sparks Street Re: The slope was indeed slippery, March 28. I agree with columnist David Warren's position about polygamous marriage, although not necessarily for the same reasons, and I do not share his pessimism about the eventual legal outcome. As a lawyer, I know that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is intended to ensure that every Canadian has the same rights as every other, unless there is some very valid and compelling reason for restricting someone's Not all parties will have contracted with each other, and an incredible tangle would ensue.

We have a duty as a society to protect our children, which would be difficult, if not impossible, in a lot of polygamous situations. As for the situation in Bountiful, B.C., I think there are valid reasons to be concerned for the welfare of children there. I seriously question the extent to which any of these supposed brides can be said to have "consented." One of the purposes of the Charter is to prevent religious views from being forced upon others. It appears to me rather probable, however, that the imposition of religious views on others is exactly what is happening in Bountiful, B.C., and it is Winston Blackmore and the other male leaders of that community who are doing the imposing. Mr.

Blackmore's attempt to argue that his religious rights are being interfered with is about as valid as the arguments that were made by slaveholders in the antebellum south that their rights were being interfered with by the emancipation proclamation. BRUCE F. SIMPSON, Ottawa uuipiJtJai.iu)Mii4uj)ijt,M uliui 1 I fJ --k 1 'K s4" lumHTTBiMiffli wtnwtMiLMiiii.iflt, Re: Walking through time, March 30. As the former executive director of Sparks Street Mall for about seven years in the 1990s I had the privilege (or death sentence) of trying to drag Sparks Street Mall into the future. The same problem still exists and has since 1970 when the federal officials got involved.

Sparks Street's many stakeholders can't decide what the mall wants to be when it grows up and they most likely never will. This five-block sandbox has so many players in it fighting over what castles to build it may never deliver what it was originally designed to do attract people and keep them coming back without the hassle of cars. The culprits are three levels of government with protectionist self-interest, many absentee landlords now and short-term tenants selling plastic Mounties, T-shirts and kabobs in the summers only. What an embarrassment for a capital city. Public Works Canada is constantly changing a vision which panders to the government of the day and its short-term leases on the whole north side of the mall prevent any chance of development.

Just try to get anything done or changed in the sacred parliamentary precinct as the federal officials so affectionately refer to the Sparks Street corridor. They basically own or control the whole north side and interfere with the south side whenever they can. Who wants to build a business on a year-to-year lease? The National Capital Commission jumps in every few years, threatening to knock down buildings here and there to create a better view of the Parliament Buildings. The City of Ottawa has been basically turning its back on the mall since amalgama rights. I cannot for the life of me imagine any valid reason for denying two people the right to marry simply because they are of the same sex.

There are, however, a number of valid reasons for not legalizing polygamous marriages. Marriage is, among other things, a contract between the spouses. One of the obvious problems with polygamous marriages is that, if a man is going to be allowed to take on a second or third spouse, surely each of his wives is entitled to take on a second or third spouse, too. These new spouses are, in turn, entitled to take on new spouses, and so on, ad infinitum. Double-decker a tight squeeze if you're tall Re: Not just for tourists anymore, March 31.

I rode on one of the new PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN double-decker buses on Monday along route No. 94 from Ken Dale writes that people-friendly and upscale pedestrian malls can be built when one or two committed groups are involved. my home in Sandy Hill to work at Tunney's Pasture. The 94 is a rapid-transit network route. I was intrigued by the dou ble-deckers which look nice and rode smoothly.

and people-friendly pedestrian malls which can withstand market downturns are achievable. I've visited many. But we can only have one or two committed responsible groups in the sandbox and they must learn to finally play nice together. Build the same castle and build it together but just start building the darn thing. KEN DALE, Ottawa who can pay a month's rent two months in a row.

Ship all these stakeholders in a bus down to pedestrian malls in Burlington, Vermont, or Quincy Market in Boston, or Bar Harbor, Maine, and have them see what a committed long-term vision between only a municipal government and hands-on landlords can create. Upscale, high-end, inviting, clean It was very crowded on the tion because it has bigger issues to deal with in the suburbs. Sparks Street was the only area probably not affected by the bus strike as no one ventures there even when the buses are running. Landlords who haven't cashed in by selling their buildings to the federal authorities have walked away and leased their stores to anyone I also have difficulty with leg room on the regular buses. However, upstairs on the double-decker, there were no spots with extra leg room as there are on regular buses.

On the regular buses, I usually try to sit at the front of the rows facing forwards, or on seats sitting sideways as there is more leg room but not on the pivoting section of articulated buses where there is even less leg room and an increased chance of someone knocking your legs on their way past. I did manage to get a seat at the very front on the second deck for some of Monday's trip and had a great view and enjoyed sitting above the driver and watching the road. I would not recommend that the city buy anymore of this particular modeL EVELYN SIMPSON, Ottawa first level with the popularity of the introduction of this special service and I headed straight for the stairs. There were many empty seats on the second level. Unfortunately, I found that I did not fit I am 5-foot-n.

I could not stand up straight on the top deck, nor could I find a place to sit where my knees were not crushed into the seat in front During my ride to work, I saw at least one that country for centuries. This is a cultural reality. Does she really think that, in the midst of a violent attack or coercion, a man is going to care enough to slip on a condom? Somehow I don't J. Travis for talking sense about geese in our parks. Far from being an annoyance, Canada geese are a gift of nature.

They should be celebrated for being a majestic symbol of our country and landscape. There are those who would strip the country bare of its natural surroundings for the sake of convenience. Such other person stooping to move along the upper deck. property must be reinstated to stop them in the future and to signal clearly that they are not acceptable. Perhaps, in time, other facilities, which the city cannot control, will also close their doors to these merchants of death.

JAN HEYNEN, Ottawa Hilliera newvoice Re: Hillier puts French services on the table, March 31. Dare we hope that there is a political voice for the silent majority waiting in the wings? Ontario desperately We need to discuss assisted suicide openly think so. The Catholic Church opposes contraception. Many studies have shown that contraception promotes promiscuity, which leads to adultery, which leads to divorce, the breakdown of the family, single parents, teen pregnancy, and so on. We have all witnessed the Re: Allow assisted suicide, expert on law, health urges Canada, March 25.

My mother and I looked after my father and watched him suffer for more than epidemic proportions of this cultural reality in our own society over the last 40 years. I don know the answer to stopping the spread of AIDS Drag racers posed threat to five others I believe that God was watching over my daughter and her close friends to save them from a serious, if not fatal, traffic accident involving street racers in Ottawa. In the small hours of Saturday, the car carrying these five women, all in their 20s and attending college and university, stopped at the intersection of Merivale and Baseline roads. Coming back from a late night meal, they were dropping one friend off before heading home. It was a green light for the driver to make a left-hand turn onto Baseline but for some strange reason she didn't make the turn.

She paused there long enough that the others wondered why she didn't proceed through the in-tersection. The roads were empty. Even afterwards, she couldn't tell her friends just what had made her wait. Suddenly, two cars came racing side by side through the red light, the tire of one car hitting the median causing the hubcap to fly through the air and causing the car to swerve and spin down Baseline. The other driver kept on going ignoring what had happened to his racing partner.

It happened so fast and in the blur of streetlights that none of the girls got licence plates nor any descriptions worth reporting to the police. Those two drivers probably don't care to know just how close they came to ending the lives of five innocent strangers. They too should be thanking God. I know I am; my daughter was seated in cide the suicide rates have not increased a great deal. The choice should be available for everyone.

Dying is a part of living. We all will face it eventually. Canadian legislators have been skirting the issue for years. It's time for a public conversation and open debate regarding what we want for ourselves as well as for our loved ones. There needs to be rational legislation in place to allow informed decisions to be made.

Being able to choose how to end one's life should be the right of every person. "A good death was defined by the individual," said Downie. Let's bring open minds to the subject, listen to all sides and encourage our legislators to do the same in the forum of public opinion. MARILYN JOHNSON, Chesterville Africa. But doling out con doms is not it.

CAROL GERVAIS, Hammond Spying on Dalai Lama Re: Toronto's Munk researchers uncover global computer spy network, March 29. The discovery by the Uni voices should be resisted. The Citizen photograph accompanying her letter is worth a thousand words. Several years ago, another image helped bring a halt to talk of eliminating geese from parks in Mississauga. It was a painting, entitled The Cull by Streetsville artist Wilfred Gelder, who also happens to be my father and a Second World War vet with more than a little fight left in him.

The painting shows a goose splayed on a cross and it caused quite a stir when it appeared in his gallery window. Mississauga eventually rejected the notion of a cull. JOHN GELDER, Ottawa Stop weapons show Re: Military trade show draws fire, March 29. The CANSEC trade show shouldn't be allowed because the type of equipment on display kills people. In today's warfare, 80 per cent of the people killed are civilians.

One point that is not men needs politicians who are not afraid to stand up to the powerful French-language lobby or to open up the scabs of silence festering on the body politic. In these times of economic crisis and uncertainty, there should be no sacred cows or money pits left unexamined. In declaring his candidacy for the Conservative party's leadership, Randy Hillier said, "The proper and honest role of government is not every role. It is to ensure that freedom and justice is found throughout the land." Lead the parade. Where do we sign up? We have been three years after a major stroke.

He was unable to do anything for himself and could not speak. I can't imagine the physical and mental torture he endured during that time. You could read the frustration and pain in his eyes. I'm positive that if he had been given a choice, it would have been to die with dignity much earlier than he did. I agree with Jocelyn Down-ie, who is the Canada research chair in health law and policy and professor of law and medicine at Dalhousie University, that assisted suicide must be legislated in Canada.

The Netherlands and the state of Oregon have laws in versity of Toronto of the elec tronic spying by China of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a clear invasion of privacy to which the government of Canada must formally protest. The Dalai Lama is place regarding assisted sui WRITE TO US lcttersthecitizen.canwest.com leaderless and voiceless far too long. M.D.ATKINSON, Ottawa Condoms not answer Re: Papal fallibility, March 26. Columnist Janet Bagnall does not agree with Pope Benedict's stand on the use of condoms in AIDS-torn Africa. She agrees, and so do with the findings of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS that women in Africa are vulnerable to sexual violence and coercion and are, consequently, more apt to be infected by I II V.

Africa is a patriarchal society. Women have been objects of sexual gratification in one of us, as he is an honorary citizen whose rights must be duly respected. This is the 50th anniversary since the Dalai Lama fled from the Chinese occupation of Tibet and we must treat the Tibet cause with reverence and support the human rights of the Tibetan people. It is interesting how the Dalai Lama's word is so fully respected round the world and at all levels. It is more than overdue that China face the Dalai Lama in open negotiations to come to a mutually beneficial settlement that is long awaited.

ROMAN MUKERJEE, Ottawa, Member, Cannda-Tibet Committee We welcome Letters to the Editor, which must be exclusive to tioned is the multifaceted environmental impact of military operations. This ranges from excessive fuel use, such as an F16 fighter plane producing extensive CO2, to injuring and killing whales with high-power sonar to long-term contamination of bombed countries with radioactive material from depleted ammunition. The arguments that convinced the council in 1989 are still valid and the ban on these trade shows on city The Ottawa Citizen. For purposes of verification, please include your home address and home and business telephone numbers. Due to space limitations, letters of 300 words or less are preferred.

We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject submissions. the left-hand passenger seat. DIANNE HEATH, Richmond Resist geese cull Re: Dog poop and litter in our parks make more mess than geese, March 31. Cheers to letter-writer Leah Mail: Letters to the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, 1101 Baxter Rd Ottawa, Ont. K2C 3M4 Fax: 613-726-5858 Citizen Online: ottawacitizen.com Letters Editor: Kurt Johnson, 613-596-3785.