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OPINION As the hours tick by, it appears more and more like- ly Canadians will head to the polls in October to cast their ballots in a federal election. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who appears to be doing his best Mats Sundin (will he or wont he?) impression, this week said, If I dont think (Parliament) can be productive, then obviously its my responsibility to make sure the people of Canada can elect a Parliament that can proceed. Why Harper feels Parliament has suddenly become dysfunctional remains unclear. For the past several months MPs have enjoyed their summer vacation. Prior to that, the governing Tories managed to push through much of their agenda as the Liberals simply stomped their feet then either backed the legislation or chose not to vote on it all. Theres nothing like an Opposition party and the Liberals have been nothing like an Opposition party. True, the Tories have passed the usual best-before expiry date of 18 months for a typical minority gov- ernment, but if the voters are clamoring for another day at the polls Harper must be the only one hearing their cries. What makes this likely election call even more con- founding is that Harper admits Canadians can expect more of the same a minority government. I think thats the reality of the current political cli- mate, he said Wednesday. Public opinion polls indicate hes right with the Liberals and Tories in a virtual tie with public support in the 32 per cent range while the NDP and Green Party bring up the rear with support fluctuating in the mid-teens. So why, if little is likely to change and a fixed elec- tion date is already in place for October 2009, do we need an election this fall? Perhaps the PM knows something we dont. Or perhaps not. Fall election call is unnecessary Steve Nease LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, Federal government doublespeak is deceiving Canadians. Titled the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), it sounds positive and innocent. Unfortunately, it will take away Canadians ability to be masters of their own country. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) initiated some changes but now the effort is being fast-tracked as an initiative under the SPP a wide-ranging plan to stream- line regulatory and security protocols across North America. The spin put on one regulation to limit pesticide residue in our food, tells us we are eliminating trade bar- riers and harmonizing trade regu- lations. Who would not want to be in harmony with their neighbours? In a report published by the Suzuki Foundation comparing 40 U.S. limits with those set by Canada, Australia and the World Health Organization, they found the U.S. had the weakest rules for more than half of the pesticide uses studied. We become subjected to more pesti- cides without making the choice. The SPP, which will lead to a union of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, should be discussed, debat- ed and voted on in a referendum by all Canadians. We should demand that each federal candidate take a public position before the next elec- tion. Disguising the loss of our rights as eliminating trade barriers is dishon- est. Barbara Halsall, Georgetown North American union warrants discussion Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 Publisher Ken Nugent Advertising director Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager Nancy Geissler (distribution@independentfreepress.com) ADVERTISING Advertising co-ordinator Jennifer Christie (jchristie@independentfreepress.com) Retail Sales: Jennifer Spencer (jspencer@independentfreepress.com) Brendan Louth (blouth@independentfreepress.com) Amy Sykes (features@independentfreepress.com) Andrea Lefebvre (alefebvre@independentfreepress.com) Brendon Stevenson (bstevenson@independentfreepress.com) Real estate: Sue Spizziri (realestate@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds: Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) ACCOUNTING Rose Marie Gauthier, Michelle McEachern EDITORIAL Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) PRODUCTION: Mary Lou Foreman, Kevin Powell, Shelli Harrison, Dolores Black, Debbie MacDougall STAFF DIRECTORY Send us a letter! Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398www.independentfreepress.com Something bugging you? What do you think? Below are the results of our most recent online poll. For the current poll go to www.independentfreepress.com What should the Town do with the $2.4 million it will receive in infrastructure funding from the Province? Use it to pay for the library/cultural centre expansion project (6%) Use it to build a new arena (13%) Use it to fix area roadways (81%) The Independent & Free Press is published Wednesday and Friday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS Dear editor, Well, I guess there are some peo- ple in town with a conscience. After my letter was printed about the birdbath, cactus and wood rein- deer that were stolen from our neighbours front yard and ours, they suddenly appeared on our boulevard the next morning. Thank you for returning these precious items to us. W. Valentini, Georgetown Resident is grateful thief has a conscience Dear editor, Kittens are beautiful wee crea- tures, so why are there so many of them roaming around, homeless and stray, and some that, if not found young enough, will become feral? People are finding mothers with litters, pregnant young cats, and have no place to go for help. The shelter is jam-packed with no room to spare and the amazing kitten foster pro- gram is stressed due to the influx of kittens this year and not enough responsible pet owners to go around. If you are a cat parent and do not spay her, you WILL have kittens. If these five to six kittens arrive at the shelter, they are spayed/neutered, which now becomes the expense of the shelter and their responsibility to find loving homes for them. Multiply this by the amount of unspayed cats and we have a crisis. So here is a bit of information that may help you change your mind. A cat can become pregnant as young as six months old. One litter can have different fathers. Cats CAN become pregnant while nursing. Mating season is usually from January to September, but can very easily be year-round. This depends on location and climate. Our climate has played havoc this year and kit- tens have been born in every month. The female cat, or queen, has a very frequent cycle. The estrus phase of the cycle lasts about 7-10 days. If they do not become pregnant during this time, the cycle will repeat itself as often as every 1-3 weeks until she gets pregnant. A queen does not ovulate until she mates. During this time, the female cats entire focus will be to get outside, she will vocalize as a call and the males will come running. Before you know it Mother Nature has given her (and you) a beautiful litter. If you do not plan on being a for- ever parent to this litter, please spay your cat before it is too late. Jane Helie, Acton Residents urged to have cats spayed/neutered 6 Acton/Georgetown, Friday, August 29, 2008