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OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, April 15, 2009 · 6 OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, April 8, OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 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: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Aziga guilty verdict is just A precedent-setting decision was made in an Ontario court April 4 with the guilty verdict of Johnson Aziga on two counts of first-degree murder. What makes this case so unique is unlike many first-degree murder cases where guns, knives or fists are the weapons of choice used in a planned killing, Aziga was convicted on the grounds he used his own infected bodily fluids as the loaded weapon in these crimes. Aziga is HIV positive, a fact he knew prior to having sexual relations with the women he was convicted of killing. According to the jury, they believed he knowingly withheld this information from the women, even though by law he was required to inform them before engaging in sexual acts. Video testimony by the women, taped shortly before their deaths from AIDSrelated illnesses, was played in court. Aziga was also found guilty on 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault relating to 11 other sexual partners. It's the first time in Canadian history -- and possibly anywhere in the world -- where a person was convicted of murder on these grounds. It's expected Aziga will file an appeal. Some AIDS advocacy groups, and Aziga's lawyer, argue that this conviction has the potential to drive people underground when it comes to getting tested for the disease. If they don't get tested, and therefore a positive diagnosis, they can't be held responsible for deliberately infecting their sexual partners. It remains to be seen if this will be the result and can be measured by statistics on whether the number of people getting testing for AIDS/HIV decreases. But nevertheless, the verdict was the right one. The end result of what Aziga did was no different than if he'd shot these women. 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 Harmonization is tax grab I have some questions related to Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn's guest column It's about jobs in the Oakville Beaver, April 11. In order to increase the number of jobs in Ontario, I thought that economic theory advocated fewer taxes on individuals to generate more spending on goods and services. The latest budget increases taxes and therefore will dampen consumer activity. How will these jobs be created if the consumer has less discretionary income? Flynn refers to many rumors surrounding the latest budget. Is it a rumour that heating, electricity, condo maintenance fees, fuel for our cars, etc. will all be eight per cent higher? Is it a rumour that there is a onetime $1,000 rebate to soften the blow and after the one year consumers absorb the blow themselves? The last scan of the Oakville Beaver's survey result on this topic indicates that 87 per cent of respondents are against harmonization. Harmonization in itself is not bad: it becomes rotten to the core when politicians attempt to disguise a substantial tax increase within its implementation. ED KURAK Keep last chance for appeal Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn was quoted (Fathers want to shine light on prescription drug deaths, Oakville Beaver, April 3) as saying the government ordering an inquest into suspicious deaths through the Community Safety Minister was political meddling that would make no difference in obtaining an inquest. Yet he advocated in writing for the Carlin family to his Minister towards this end. Why? An inquest was granted into Sara Carlin's death finally after an exposé in the Oakville Beaver. This is the path I took in 2000 to obtain an inquest into the death of our daughter Vanessa: appeal to the Minister and go to the media. It can work. Yet, the Ontario Government is planning to quietly eliminate this last chance of appeal for families. The reason the Coroner's Act is being rewritten is to increase oversight of the coroner's office because it was out of control, for example, sending numerous innocent people to prison for years based on unchallenged theories. This change will reduce oversight. Future grieving parents' last chance of appeal will be an oversight committee composed primarily of -- you guessed it -- coroners, the same group that classified deaths caused by prescription drugs as 'natural' for decades. The ultimate decision to order an inquest should be in the hands of a democratically elected government, not appointed bureaucrats accountable to no one. TERENCE H. YOUNG, MP OAKVILLE This week's poll This week's question is: The Ontario Medical Association wants calorie content to be posted in restaurants and school cafeterias. Is this a good idea? · Yes · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: In the recent Ontario budget, the McGuinty government announced plans to harmonize the PST and GST into a harmonized tax (HST). Is this a good idea? · Yes 12.73% · No 87.27% Total votes: 55 votes 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. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.