Editor’s Desktop

There’s nothing like Canada Day in Ching Park. I don’t care where you are from, nothing beats it.

The food, the fun, the entertainment- and of course the fireworks.

It truly is a class act that puts our neighbours in Toronto to shame.

Headlining the entertainment was Amanda Marshall, proving that this event has drawing power.

The city deserves praise for staging this celebration. It truly makes Brampton a special place to live.

If you have never attended the birthday bash, I suggest you do.

You don’t know what you are missing.

CV

As the Editor of the Brampton Guardian, I have received numerous letters regarding the emergency department at the new Brampton Civic Hospital.

Some letters have supported the hospital and its staff- but the majority have been critical of the long wait times in the emergency department at Brampton Civic.

There are stories of people waiting 14 to 22 hours before being seen by a doctor. I have read these letters myself. Could all these people be exaggerating? I don’t think so.

Clearly there is a problem at the new hospital and the hospital knows it too.

However, it’s the patients’ fault.

According to the hospital’s chief of emergency, Dr. Naveed Mohammad,  20 per cent of people coming into emergency don’t need to be there.

“Approximately 20 per cent of those coming to emergency can receive care at our urgent care clinic, which provides services for those with urgent but less critical health care needs such as broken bones, cuts and sprains. Some may even be cared for more appropriately by family doctors or walk-in clinics,” says Dr. Mohammad.

Time and time again, people clog the ER when another health care service delivery route would have been more appropriate.

My elderly father, with a heart condition, once had to wait at a hospital ER department for the doctor to check out a 15-year-old girl who had been smacked in the face with a basketball.

Come on Mom - take your kid to a walk-in clinic.

Improving the health care system, well at least ER wait times, starts with the patient.

Use some common sense. 

If Billie has the sniffles or you have an ingrown hair- don’t waste valuable resources by going to the ER- visit your nearest walk-in clinic.

CV

Peel police have charged a Brampton teenager with drunk driving in a horrific crash that left one man severely burned and a taxi driver dead.

A passenger in the cab was thrown from the vehicle and is in serious condition, and the accused teen is also in serious condition in hospital.

The fiery three-car crash happened in the intersection of Dixie Road and Bovaird Drive at about 1:30 a.m. Friday.

This is a tragedy. One we have seen before and likely will see again.

Recently new tougher drinking and driving penalties were implemented.

Drivers caught with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.08 now automatically have their driver’s licence suspended for three days, and that’s for a first offence.

At first I though this new law was unfair.

But after this tragic event, it’s clear that people, especially the young, are not getting the message.

Maybe it’s time to make the drinking age 21 and alcohol education mandatory in schools.

No diploma without a course in the dangers of alcohol.

Just a thought.

Brampton fire investigators have confirmed that an early-morning fire at a local Sri Lankan restaurant was deliberately set.

Community members are convinced a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the front window of Lanka Gardens just after 2:30 a.m. Friday, but investigators would not confirm that information. The restaurant is located on Wexford Road in the Kennedy Road/Bovaird Drive area.

After the fire, members of the Sri Lankan community, including Sri Lanka’s very vocal consul-general to Canada, blamed Tamil Tigers for the crime.

Police would not say if they are investigating the fire as a hate crime or if they have any suspects.

No matter who started this fire- the police MUST give this crime the highest priority. It’s too early to say whether those responsible were motivated by politics or not.

However, this crime is reminiscent of what went on in Nazi Germany and it makes me sick as a resident.

No matter who is responsible- they must be brought to justice.

Organizers of this week’s massive protest on the Gardiner Expressway say they are not ruling out the possibility of another traffic-stopping demonstration in the coming days.

“I can’t predict what is going to happen but from what I can see, the community has been reasonable,” said Senthan Nada, a spokesperson for the Coalition to Stop the War in Sri Lanka.

No. Reasonable is one or two peaceful protests. Stopping traffic and impacting a city for weeks is criminal.

Enough is enough and it’s time for the politicians and police to put a stop to this behaviour that has gone from a legitimate protest to hooliganism. The line has been crossed and it’s time to pull out the tear gas and batons.

The roving protesters have shut down parts of Toronto for weeks. They have made their point.

What do they expect the Canadian government to do? Send our troops to end the civil war? Well that sure as hell isn’t going to happen.

They would have more luck ending the war protesting the UN in New York.

There’s the right to protest and then there is my rights which these protesters are starting to infringe on.

CV

Last weekend a buddy and I decided Saturday afternoon to head downtown Toronto - sit on a patio - drink tall pints and take in the sights.

We knew the DVP was closed for maintenance. No problem. Gardiner here we come. But wait- a cop gets knocked off his motorcycle and the Gardiner is closed. Great. A city with a population of more than three million people and two major arteries are closed.

In a last ditch effort we try to take the 401. But nooooooooo. The 409 eastbound ramp to the 401 is closed too for maintenance.

Also, I hear on the radio that portions of the 407 are closed for maintenance. My blood starts to boil.

Who are the knobs that decide to close almost every major artery for maintenance on the same day?

Surely some co-ordination can be done so an entire city is not paralyzed. 

Here are some things to ponder.

If you or I were knocked off a motorcycle, would the police close the Gardiner for three hours to recreate the scene? Or is that only done if you wear a uniform?

If they are doing repairs on the DVP, can they not pull the workers off for a few hours if another artery is closed? They always seem to finish ahead of schedule anyway.

Last but not least, can the maintenance be done on alternating weekends?

CV

“Canada’s largest independent chicken processor unveiled a new high-pressure method of killing listeria and other bacteria in sliced luncheon meats after the package is sealed.

Maple Lodge Farms announced the move today as a rival meat processor called for more government regulation of the food industry.”

-Toronto Star

Ok. Is it just me or shouldn’t the bacteria be killed before the meat slides into that plastic package?

CV

I am poor. You’re poor. We’re all poor.

And I all know is that someone really f@&*ed up badly to make us all poor in this once great province of Ontario.

We are so poor in fact that on Tuesday Ontario received its first-ever transfer payment. 

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed last fall that Ontario would receive about $347 million. The payments are usually reserved for “have not” provinces. 

Have not provinces?

How did this happen in Ontario?

Premier Dalton McGuinty had no plans to mark the occasion of Ontario officially becoming poor.

But he is the man to blame. He has no plan or vision for the economy - in fact all his government does is ignore the economy and make announces on petty issues.

For years economists knew that Ontario’s manufacturing sector was under strain of the higher Canadian dollar, jobs were heading south and plants were closing.

If this government has an action plan for the economy- I would like to see it.

How’s it feel to be on the dole? Think about that at election time.

CV

On Saturday, after deliberating for three days, a Hamilton jury found Johnson Aziga, 52,  guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault.

It was the first time that a criminal case involving the reckless transmission of HIV has resulted in a murder conviction.

It’s about bloody time, considering the disease has been around 30 some odd years.

Two of Aziga’s lovers have died of AIDS- five others have tested positive for HIV.

Clearly, this disease, as any disease, is tragic for those infected and their families.

But any man or woman who turns their genitals into a weapon capable of dealing out death like a loaded assault rifle is guilty of first-degree murder.

It’s really very simple. Those infected with AIDS have a moral- and now a legal- obligation to tell their partner of their status, abstain from sex- or use condoms.

Otherwise, they are committing premeditated first-degree murder.

Some say the conviction will discourage people from getting tested because they can claim in court they didn’t know they had the disease. Maybe?

But sexual killers can’t be allowed to roam free in bars, the workplace or dating Web sites knowingly spreading HIV.

Aziga will now be where he belongs, in jail not the bedroom.

CV