The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 19

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2.H, 2010 ''V rasa. flitE Promoting radicalism Muslims are the target of intense propaganda by radical Islamists. It is a strategy of "usthem" David Warren, B6 Who's making the policy? If foreign policy is conducted out of the Privy Council Office, what use is a Department of Foreign Affairs? Arguments, B7 1 1 1 1 OTTAWA Convent plan hardly a model development right across the road from the convent site. Far from being a "gateway to Westboro," this section of Richmond Road looms as a preposterous monument to overdevelopment. I was surprised to learn from Denley's column that a "community" committee met with the developer and discussed heritage issues separately from density, heights etc.

Separating these issues is absurd; furthermore, no committee has been authorized to speak on behalf of the community. I hope that city councillors are not fooled by Denley's cheery portrayal of the proposal for the former convent site. We already have zoning in place to allow for infill; developers, city council, and committee of adjustment must start respecting the Westboro and Wellington West neighbourhoods. Rezoning and so-called minor variances which run roughshod over existing zoning must cease. Nearby houses are being overwhelmed; pedestrians and restaurants are increasingly in shadow; sightlines along our "main street" are being ruined, and growing traffic congestion jamming is heading for gridlock.

Overdevelopment must stop. MEG MILNE, Ottawa Re: A workable plan for Les Soeurs site, Aug. 22. I read Randall Denley's column on the Richmond Road convent site with considerable concern. While Denley tries to portray the proposed development as just fine for the area, and a model of developer-community co-operation, I certainly see nothing reassuring in the situation.

Denley breezes past the fears of residents regarding overdevelopment of the area, by saying a nine-storey residential tower on Richmond Road is "inevitable," and matches the height range of developments already approved. Granted, the developer originally aimed higher at 12 storeys, but to be clear, nine is still far too high. The unpleasant fact is that too many buildings in the nine-storey range have popped up in recent years along the Wellington Street-Richmond Road corridor, already overpowering the neighbourhood. This is all the more reason to stop breaking our existing zoning regulations of four to six storeys in this overdeveloped area. Denley also ignores the two multi-storey condo developments (one six storeys, the other eight storeys) which the same developer is building 1 1 in 1 fc.iindn"fci i.i i-f I.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW 0OIRON TREACY Singer Justin Bieber is the object of teen adulation that some parents are wrong to encourage, writes Marguerite Gollish. It is better to teach teenagers how to get along with boys whom they have met in person. Let's pay attention to boys around us, not Bieber be as perfect as the Bieber image seems to be. But so what? At least they talk to us, and we have meaningful exchanges, something I'm sure a picture can't do for us. And that's exactly what girls are expecting the image to do.

"Marry me, Justin Bieber" is what a 13-year-old girl wrote on her T-shirt. Sorry to break it to you, girls, but odds are you're never going to meet Justin, much less have a romantic relationship with him. And it's illegal to get married at 13 anyway. We're bombarded with stories about how teenagers are spending more and more time on their computers, texting, disconnecting from reality and this worries parents. It's OK to have heroes and role models but parents should help us put this into perspective, not try to distract us from what we need to learn in real life by telling us it's great to idolize someone we've never met.

All we know and see is how he acts in public. I read another article, saying how shocking it was that he still listens to his mother! He's 16! Do famous people not have families and parents? So girls, guys: don't waste your time on a highly marketed image. Go out and meet people. Talk to people at your school, team mates or those you have dance class with. It's OK to sometimes dream about grandeur, and yes, dreams are made possible if people try, as Terry Fox once said.

But maybe the energy spent on this dream of meeting, falling in love and marrying Justin Bieber might better be spent in real time building healthy relationships with our friends and family. Teenage boys are our friends. We all need to learn and grow together in a safe environment. This is what our parents should teach us. MARGUERITE GOLLISH, Ottawa Re: Justin time! Aug.

25. I was disturbed by the comment from a mother who preferred her daughter worship Justin Bieber rather than take an interest in the boys around her. "As long as my daughter likes J.B., she's not into other boys. (...) It works out great." I am 15 and, yes, I like Justin Bieber music. But no I am not in love with him, and my family does not encourage me to be.

The mother interviewed in the Citizen article found Bieber a welcome distraction from the real world of teenage boys. Isn't that why we should not revere him? Shouldn't we try to stay in the real world and not be deluded into thinking that every guy is going to be like Justin? Parents should encourage us to socialize with the people around us, not to have an "adulation of pop stars." The guys we know may not Islam must speak against its radical factions Registry strains relationship of police, gun owners Catholicism relies upon the Vatican for guidance and control. The Church of England has the Archbishop of Canterbury. Judaism has a variety of organizations which are designed to instruct, teach and certify rabbis and cantors. There are, with a majority of religious groups, bodies in control.

Failure of religious leaders to follow edicts have consequences including excommunication. What many are waiting for is a declaration from a governing body within Islam condemning the war upon the West. The nervous reaction that people have towards Muslims is because there has been no united condemnation of the radical factions. Because there has been no central outcry from within, the perception is the radicals are being supported by all. There is no formal school to teach imams, no central authority, no class of clergy within the religion.

Anyone who is learned in the Koran and who demonstrates suffi cient piety and scholarship can become an imam. Each imam is free to preach what he believes. If he has a background which is radical, his teachings will follow. What most people can't understand is when an imam spouts off that America is the devil and Jews and Christians are its spawn, how such individuals are allowed to continue preaching. There are no sanctions, punishments or consequences for making those remarks.

That fosters the belief that everyone within the culture accepts and adopts those words. Islam must find a way to deal with its radicals internally. Without that it is impossible for outsiders to understand where the radicals stop and the secularists begin. The media paints everyone with the same brush. While that is unfair, there has been little condemnation from within so there is little opportunity to see the moderate side of a good people.

RUSSEL MOLOT, Ottawa lice grossly violated Login's Charter rights in the process, and obtained consent to a search by misleading Login as to their true powers. Hladik was very lucky that his naive consent to a search did not result in similar charges, a large legal bill and the loss of valuable personal property. Lawful firearms owners used to have nothing to fear from police thanks to the long gun registry they now do. PAUL MORRISON, London, Ont. Re: Registry helped defuse gun incident at home, Aug.

26. Maurice Hladik's letter purports to illustrate the utility of the long gun registry. Instead the comments illustrate its dangers. According to Hladik, police inspected his firearms to determine if they'd been recently used. Since the only way to determine that would be to test for gunshot residue, would police have charged him with careless use of a firearm if he had not cleaned After the unnecessary police response to what was in reality a noise complaint, the police used the fact that he owned firearms as a pretext to search his home with the intent to lay serious charges and justify their actions.

This is not the first time police have engaged in such a fishing expedition. In 2006 the Ontario Court of Justice acquitted Jonathan Login of a careless storage charge after police overreacted to a report of a hunter on a rural property near Baxter, Ontario. Po his firearms after previous lawful use? The relationship between firearms owners and police used to be cordial and even friendly. Now, thanks to the gun registry, firearms owners fear interactions with police, as even the most minor paperwork violation could result in serious jail time. Hladik had every right to tell the police he was not willing to permit them to inspect his firearms, and he was lucky that having consented he was not charged with anything.

It was wrong to include my photo with 12 MPs tional leader working to bridge the genuine cultural divides between urban and rural Canada, even as Michael Ig-natieff and Stephen Harper continue to play cynical wedge politics with the safety of our communities. New Democrats remain focused on the pursuit of practical solutions which will balance the rights of legitimate sportsmen and women with a vigorous public safety regime capable of empowering our valiant police services to effectively protect the Canadian public and themselves. JOE COMARTIN, Ottawa MP for Windsor-Tecumseh Re: Gun registry's fate is in their hands, Aug. 25. It was incorrect to include my photograph as one of 12 New Democrats still weighing their position on the Conservatives' controversial Bill C-391 on the long-gun registry.

This is a serious misrepresentation. As New Democrat justice critic, I have voted at each stage of the process to maintain this critical investigative tool, and worked tirelessly within my caucus and at committee to halt the advance of this potentially disastrous and politically motivated legislation. Jack Layton is the only na Grandparents get best summer vacations Grandparenting has become a rite of summer for many boomers. With both parents working, grandparents are needed to fill the gaps between children's camps and family holidays. Grandparents are noticeable.

They are the old-looking, frazzled but happy people with one or two little children in hand. They can be found in parks, museums, indoor and outdoor pools, libraries, walking trails, miniature golf courses and movies. As volunteers, they put up to 50 hours a week of unpaid work into playing with and entertaining their young charges. This demanding and exhausting labour of love is not for the faint of heart. Needed are lots of patience, the ability to constantly feed hungry children, apply bandages with kisses, play games, pretend, dance, make crafts, change diapers, read books, build with blocks and Lego and be faster than a speeding child on a riding toy or bike.

It's a win-win summer pastime since parents benefit, the children thrive and the Whitton for her role in keeping Jewish children out of Canada during the Second World War. Keeping Jews from immigrating or fleeing Nazi persecution was, in most cases, not just a matter of denying them opportunities, as it was the custom in Canada then I have anecdotal evidence but of denying them a chance to stay alive. Those who were turned away, with a shrug of the shoulders, were as often sent to their deaths, in one of many ways. Canadians were probably just human in their responses; that would be fine if only they did not always pretend to be more than that. The amazing thing to me is that they brought these prejudices with them across the ocean, even those who had experienced persecutions in the old country.

Coming to a new country, would one not have expected a new attitude? Jews were at all times hardworking, creative and quiet. Certainly the kind of immigrant any country should have welcomed. Let's be more careful with our monuments in future. ROY ENGFIELD, Ottawa grandparent has a ball. How did I spend my summer holiday? Grandparenting seven wonderful grandchildren with love.

The fun is almost over for another year. ANNA YATES, Nepean Encourage bright kids Re: Grade expectations rebuffed, Aug. 20. While I did not think of myself then or now as a boy genius, I did enter Grade 9 three years early and I have never had reason to regret that. It was a long time ago, in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and I was accelerated within the public school system (along with my twin brother Murray) at the recommendation of our teachers and with the consent of our parents.

Acceleration, at least for a year or two, was not so unusual as it is in our more regimented times. The world changes. I do not understand why the school system cannot accommodate Windsor student Bachar Sbeiti, who wants to go into Grade 9 four years early, and who is clearly keen and confident. I am not persuaded by the school board's insistence that research shows that students should be with children of their own age because, as we all know, what research shows today may change on tomorrow. I think the educational bureaucracy should bend over backwards to accommodate and encourage a talented student, rather than stifle his aspirations and needs and lecture him and his mother about what is good for him.

Nor is there much risk of a precedent for Bachar Sbeiti is manifestly talented beyond the norm. MEL WATKINS, Constance Bay Careful with honours Re: Many great Canadians of past intolerant or downright racist, Aug. 23. I find it interesting, faintly amusing, and certainly liberating for those of us who care about such things, that some of our iconic politicos are found with the clay feet of anti-Semitism. I find myself entirely on the side of the Jewish organizations that are objecting to recognition of Charlotte WHITETO us lettersthecitizen.canwest.com We welcome Letters to the Editor, which must be exclusive to The Ottawa Citizen.

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