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Pa ge 6 T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 1 1, 2 01 4 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a Mr. Shadbolt, maybe you have been smoking or drinking something that caused your rant. Douglas A. Ford, Acton We attended a children's concert (Gaud- eamus Choirs Nov. 29) at St. John's Unit- ed Church, which was out of our normal scope of activities on a Saturday night. We were surprised by their perfor- mances, which reflected their talented advisers and musical understanding of the adult volunteers. These youngsters and their mentors should be publicly thanked by their sold- out audience. It was a wonderful evening. Thank you all. W. Gordon Rea, Georgetown The Independent & Free Press is published Thursday 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 is a member of the Ontario Press Coun- cil, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For additional information or to file a complaint, contact info@ ontpress.com or call 416-340-1981. The Independent & Free Press Montreal changed us Letters to the editor The warning is out that coyotes are moving into urban areas. Have you seen a coyote in the Halton Hills urban area? • Yes (57%) • No (43%) WEB POLL RESULTS (Go to www.theifp.ca) 905-873-0301 Publisher: Dana Robbins General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: Chris Vernon (cvernon@metroland.com) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifieds/Real Estate Kristie Pells (realestate@theifp.ca) Classified Call Centre 1-855-415-8237 classified@theifp.ca Accounting 1-866-773-6575 Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox by signing up for our twice weekly electronic newsletter. Go to www.theifp.ca and click on 'Newsletter sign-up' at the bottom of the homepage. Attacks were terrorism: reader Entertainment was delightful Recycling does pay off Letters must include the author's name, address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. Email: cvernon@metroland.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 77, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. Letters policy In this country, Dec. 6 is a memorial day to the suf- fering of women. For the past 25 years, Canadians have paused amid the pre-Christmas festivities for a moment of solemn reflection and bitter mourning. On that day in 1989, an enraged man with a legally obtained fire- arm killed 14 young women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. Marc Lepine gunned down these women, 12 of whom were engineering students, simply because they were women. He said he was "fighting femi- nism" and wanted to stop women from "seizing" the advantages in life that are accorded to men. Lepine killed himself shortly afterwards, so we will never know exactly what motivated his violent ac- tions. Whether he was simply a hateful misogynist, or whether the root causes of his actions involved pro- found mental health problems that perhaps might have been remedied with today's better understand- ing of psychiatry, is a question that will never be an- swered. Nevertheless, the Montreal Massacre is a water- shed moment in Canada's growth as a nation. Before, we were in many respects a more innocent country, revelling in a history that, in comparison to many countries, was peaceful. Afterwards, even after that first flush of disbelief, outrage and grief, we became a sadder, darker society. The anguished debate hinged on whether Lep- ine had truly acted alone, or whether his violent and hate-filled outburst had somehow been enabled by a tacit understanding in Canadian culture that women were capable of less, were worth less, mattered less. Painful as it has been, it is this conversation that has brought us to a better place. The soul-searching of the past quarter century kept us vigilant. It is part of the reason women are better off now than at any time in this country's history. Canada offers more freedom, safety and respect to women than almost any other country in the world. As crime and homicide rates plummet, Canadian women are safer now than at any time since the mid- 1960s. But more work is ahead of us. Re: John Shadbolt letter "Michael Chong was way off base: reader", Nov. 20. So Mr. Shadbolt you would have "ex- tremists" armed with automatic weap- ons, RPGs, IEDs, etc., rather than what they had at hand. The RCMP have labeled the murders in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa as terrorist attacks. Both Warrant Officer Patrice Vin- cent and Corporal Nathan Cirrillo were members of Canada's Armed Forces. They were representatives of the Can- ada government, who in turn represent us, its citizens. Thus, the attacks were against the Armed Forces, the elected government of Canada and its citizens. The aim of terrorism is to terrorize. Ask the people at the War Memorial or the MPs in lockdown if they did not feel terrorized. Maybe all the articles written about the "terrorists" are wrong and they are simply misunderstood. One morning I was watching three squirrels looking for breakfast. Two where looking in the swept up flower beds finding little to eat. The other squirrel was in the swept up piles of leaves enjoying breakfast. All I can say, recycling can pay off for the smart ones. Norman C.R. Foote, Acton OPINION