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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday June 1, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Appeal warranted In a far too tragic coincidence, Ontario's new legislation to curb street racing passed into law Tuesday just hours after two Toronto men were sentenced for killing a taxi driver while speeding last year. What was perhaps even more tragic, was the incredibly lenient sentence Justice John Moore handed out to Wing-Piao Dumani Ross and his pal Alexander Ryazanov, both 20, for their role in the death of cabbie Tahir Khan. Calling it "an exercise in speed and bad judgment, not criminal intent" that resulted in Khan's death, Moore sentenced the pair -- both driving their parents' Mercedes at the time of the crash -- to a mere 12 months of house arrest. Yes, there is also an additional year under an 11 p.m.- 6 a.m. curfew (that can be overridden with their parents' written permission), 150 hours of community service, a fouryear driving ban and two years probation, but the pair could have faced a maximum of 14 years in prison for their dangerous driving convictions. The Crown sought a three-year prison sentence. Only hours after Moore handed down his sentence Attorney General Michael Bryant was being pressured by various groups and individuals to appeal the sentence. He should do so--and quickly-- to send the right message to others who treat the rules of the road so lightly. While Moore dealt with the semantics of whether Ross and Ryazanov actually were "street racing" at the time of the crash, the fact remains that on a cold January night two young men, behind the wheels of luxury cars, drove between 80 and 140km/h on city streets without concern for other drivers or pedestrians. While they may not have had "criminal intent" to injure Mr. Khan, surely the very nature of their actions put others in jeopardy. In the end, a hard-working man, who was his family's sole breadwinner and was just days from becoming a Canadian citizen, was killed because of the reckless actions of two men who should, by rights, have forfeited their right to ever drive again. It is clear the punishment did not fit the crime in this matter and it is now up to Bryant to ensure that it does. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Why is Province stonewalling on Sexual Harassment Week? On June 2, 1996, 56-yearold training administrator Theresa Vince was shot to death in Chatham Sears Canada office by her supervisor. He then killed himself. She had been enduring sexual harassment from him for years and was planning to retire a couple of weeks later. Why is it that 10 years later, after an inquest into the murder-suicide, a Liberal MPP's one-line Bill to declare the first week of June Sexual Harassment Awareness Week -- a Bill supported by the Vince family and women's rape crisis centres and labour unions -- has been buried in the agenda of the Standing Committee on Justice Policy for almost a year without action? Liberal MPP Pat Hoy sponsored the private member's Bill last year. The one line text of the Bill is: "The first week in June in each year is proclaimed as Sexual Harassment Awareness Week." Why isn't the Ontario government declaring this awareness week? Surely, a one-line piece of legislation doesn't require further study by a government Standing Committee. Women, who experience different forms of harassment at work, experience physical and emotional harm as well as job loss, loss of references for future work and disrupted work experience. It has serious impacts on all parts of their lives and livelihood. And sexual harassment affects almost all women at some point in their lives. Now there's a second private member's Bill on the books to make harassment of all kinds a part of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and put mechanisms in place to hold harassers accountable for their actions. This one was tabled by the NDP. Violence against women is a non-partisan issue. Before MPPs take their summer break and begin campaigning for the October election, the McGuinty government has time to make both of these Bills a part of their legacy and to do something important to support women in workplaces all over Ontario. A new election focussed women's coalition called Step it Up is calling on all Parties to make violence against women a priority in their upcoming campaigns. They're calling for an end to sexual harassment and other forms of workplace violence. In memory of Theresa Vince and in support of all women who are forced to work in abusive workplaces, the Ontario Government needs to pass the two private member's Bills this June. Let's not wait another 10 years for action. Let's not have another woman in Ontario murdered just for going to work. JACQUELINE BENN-JOHN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SEXUAL ASSAULT AND VIOLENCE INTERVENTION SERVICES OF HALTON Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. 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