Red Deer Advocate from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada • 4

Bremner Ave 2400 1 COMMENT Sikh names policy must go A4 Thursday, July 26, 2007 Published by The Red Deer Advocate at 2950 Red Deei, Alta T4N 5G3 Ph (403) 343 Canada has an enviable reputation for welcoming immigrants with open arms while encouraging them to retain the culture, Ian guage and religion ol'their homelands As good social studies students know, Canada is a mosaic not a melting pot During the past decade. Canada has ac cepted. on average, 221,000 immigrants and refugees a year. According to Statistics Canada, this country has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each That's significant. It means we truly are an ethnically diverse nation Yet, Canada is not ithout its problems.

Just this week, conies word that Citizenship and Immigration Canada is forcing people with the surname Singh or Kaur to change their last names A pregnant Calgary woman, waiting for her husband to be allowed to move from India to Canada, was told in a letter from the federal government that the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada Now the womans husband has no choice but to legally change his name in India so he can get to Cowtown before she gives birth next month. Immigration Canada apparently refuses to accept the last names Singh and Kaur because there are so many people in the world ADVOCATEVIEW LEE GILES ilh those surnames (the name Singh is given to every baptized male and Kaur to every baptied female Sikh). Yet, people with such common names as Smith or Jones do not have to change them Neither do people with the most common surname in the world, which various Internet sources report to be either Li, Chang, Zhang, Wang or Wong. Immigration Canada says there is no such policy against common last names, other than Kaur or Singh. Given that, surely the government must recognize its Sikh names policy as unfair and arbitrary.

One wonders if the policy could stand up to a Charter of Rights and Freedoms court challenge. That said, it shouldnt come down to that. Ottawa should simply recognize the policy to be discriminatory and eliminate it as soon as humanly possible. Sikhs are every bit as entitled to come to this country as anyone else, and they should be extended the same courtesies as other immigrants. There are approximately 300,000 Sikhs liv ing in Canada, many of them Itritish Co lunibia Prior to 1907, a number of Sikhs who were retired British army veterans settled in that province; however, Sikh immigration to this country was banned in 1908 More reasonable immigration policies weren't introduced until the 1980s, when racial quotas were removed Sikhs have helped make our country more interesting and have contributed to the national fabric in countless ways.

Prominent Sikh Canadians include former federal Health Minister lljjal Dosanjh and journalist Monita Rajpal (a CNN news anchor, based at the networks London office). Unfortunately, Sikh Canadians have been subjected to several indignities over the years. Most notably, for a time, they were denied the right to wear turbans as members of the RCMP Furthermore, it wasnt so long ago that turbans were banned in Royal Canadian Legion facilities, including the one in Red Deer. Its possible Ottawa has taken a tougher line with common Sikh surnames than with other immigrants because of the Air India Bombing, the most deadly terrorist attack in Canadian history. But, if thats the case, then the government is dearly on the wrong track.

After all, it's important to remember the attack killed a large number of Sikhs and that the bombing was criticized by the vast majority of Canadian Sikhs Furthermore, no one has yet been convicted of the crime So, theoretically at least, the race and religion of the bomber(s) is unknown. Its ridiculous for Ottawa to insist on Sikh immigrants changing their last names if they want relatively quick entry into Canada, especially when the government allows them to change their names back to Singh or Kaur once they have been accepted into this country. Interestingly, one blogger on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations website mused recently that the federal government's Sikh names policy is an apt introduction for immigrants to the ridiculous degree of bureaucracy present in this country. That may be true, but it shouldn't bring a smile to the face of any Canadian. Its only funny because government policy here is so frequently misplaced and our lawsregulations so often excessive.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, tear down this figurative wall to Sikh immigration! Lee Giles is an Advocate editor. War on marijuana an abysmal failure OPINION! I mean, doesnt 30 grams seem like a lot? Thats the equivalent of a case of wine or two, and if your dads cousin Bob showed up at a three-day camp-out with a case of wine just for himself wouldnt that raise an eyebrow or two? So, lets use some reasoning here. (OK, so reason and Jack Layton go together like barbecue pork ribs at a Hezbollah fundraiser, but were being a bit hypothetical here.) The proposed 30-gram limit of pot possession is way high, no pun intended. If you need to pack more than 10 grams with you, try a 12-step program, buddy. But, lets use our intellect here, folks.

If we were to allow anyone who wants the opportunity to grow two plants, indoors, with a combined weight of no more than a couple of kilograms including the container and soil, well, what do you suppose that would do to the market value of all that black market weed quietly maturing under the halogen glare of high-dollar indoor lighting? Im thinking the classifieds would need a whole new section just for lights and generators. But wait! Theres more. If we really want to put the pot ped dlers out of business, we need to add some teeth. Make possession of more than 10 grams of weed by any one person a fine. A big fine, and keep it out of the criminal code.

Move it over to a revenue offense, so that any unpaid fines follow you like some homely dog or a bad debt. Make the sale of marijuana -any amount punishable by a fine and jail time. Expand the definition of sale to mean any exchange of goods. Let the Americans deal with border runners. Now, if we do these little things, what we will have done is make marijuana nearly valueless as a commodity.

What we wont do is wipe out the use. That wont happen anyway, so lets make it manageable and eliminate the criminal possibilities. Dont even try and suggest having the government look at controlling and taxing the sale of weed like it does liquor and tobacco. Do you really think Ottawa has the brains to get that right? Bill Greenwood is a local freelance writer. Greenwood Do you ever marvel at the apparent objective within governments to diligently get even the easy stuff wrong? Before we go on, two things.

First, go to the kitchen spice rack and find a 10-gram container of oregano. Go to the store, if you have to. The other is that Ive smoked weed. Once or twice, a long time ago. How long? A long time, like before Arnold Schwarzenegger was an actor.

The last time, my friend rolled me a joint the size of my thumb and I smoked it. Then, I sat around and ate about six bags of chips waiting for something to happen. I decided about then that the stuff was overpriced and overrated. So, here we are in 2007, having spent almost as much money and energy to mount a manned Jupiter flight trying to eradicate marijuana and we still cant come up with legislation that works. Good Lord, people.

Does no one in government think, for cryin out loud? This is easy stuff. This is so easy, we could put the marijuana traffickers out of business by Friday. Shoot, maybe even Thursday if we got an early start on Monday. Ever hear of A1 Capone? You know, the Chicago bootlegger and gangland kingpin in the Prohibition years. Yeah, that Capone.

Did you know that Capone gave money to politicians who were in favour of extending Prohibition? Probably not, but thats OK. You see, because of its illegal nature, the price of liquor was grossly inflated. The day Prohibition ended, the market value of all the whiskey stashed away in bootleg warehouses collapsed like Bre-X shares Capone took a big hit in the pocketbook that day. Do you see where were going with this? Well, youre partly right. Now, apparently marijuana is as easy to grow as sunflowers.

Supposedly, you have to be pretty ham-handed to kill a pot plant. This is where we get to the thinking part. (I know, looking for rational thought in Ottawa is like looking for a virgin in a home for unwed mothers. But, well try.) Did you look at 10 grams of oregano? Now, does that not seem like enough electric lettuce to get anyone through a long weekend around the campfire, if thats your bag? Bill Unfair, ineffective, but think of the money The drivers licence is suspended for nonpayment. But evidence shows that many keep on driving anyway, with again, anecdotally the additional incentive of trying to flee a traffic stop.

The revenue forecasts tend to be excessively rosy. Michigan has a collection rate of only 40 per cent on its super-fines. But like any source of cash to a government Virginia hopes to get $65 million from them the super-fines, once enacted, are proving tough to repeal. There seems to be growing support in Michigan for repealing a law that is unfair and ineffective, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm is opposed.

She says the state needs the money. Dale McFeatters writes for the Scnpps Howard News Service. does is raise money, and this unfortu-nately may trump the laws drawbacks. One harsh critic of the law is William Buhl, a circuit-court judge in Michigan, which has had the law since 2003. Buhl told The Washington Post, whose circulation covers a large swath ofVirginia: I think it is a very destructive piece of legislation that is designed primarily for revenue purposes and is disguised as a highway-safety measure.

In my opinion, it increases the dangers on the highways because it creates an enormous, growing pool of unlicensed motorists. In addition to an extra fine that can reach $3,000, Virginia tacks on a surcharge of $100 for drivers with eight points on their records plus $75 for each additional point. By DALE McFEATTERS Advocote news It was one of those ideas that look great on paper: Sock drivers convicted of serious driving offences with super-fines up to US $3, OOO extra and devote the money to highway improvements. Virginia, following New Jersey and Michigan, enacted such a law. It went into effect July 1 and already the state is having second thoughts, a cautionary lesson for states thinking of doing likewise.

The thinking was that the heavy-duty fines abuser fees, in certain circles would improve traffic safety. The anecdotal evidence is that they do not; in fact, they may do the opposite. What the law does do is fall most heavily on the poor. What it also E-m a i editoria lreddeeradvocate.com Joe McLaughlin, Managing editor 314-4328 John Stewart, News editor 3144342 Carolyn Martindale, City editor 3144326 Greg Meachem, Sports editor 3144363 Harley Richards, Business editor 3144337 Cameron Kennedy, Life editor 3144339 Website: www.reddeeradvocate.com Advertising Main number: 314-4343 Fax: 3424051 E-mail: advertisingreddeeradvocate.com Classified ads: 309-3300 Classified e-mail: classifiedsreddeeradvocate.com Alberta Press Council member The Advocate is a sponsoring member of the Alberta Press Council. The council meets publicly twice a year to adjudicate complaints against member newspapers Allan Melbourne CircuigtionPromotions Manager Callum Scott Advertising Manager Dan Relkow BusinessBuilding Manager Al Fradette PressMailroom Manager Scott Williamson Pre-press supervisor Main switchboard 343-2400 News News tips (business hours) 314-4325 News tips (night line) 314-4333 Sports line 343-2244 News fax 341-6560 Readers with a complaint about any part of the Advocate should first contact the editor or advertising manoger.

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