PAGE 4 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ November 3,2004 durhamregion.com Elje Canabian Statesman Opinion | NOVEMBER 3, 2004 infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to ncwsroom@durhamrcgion.com Courthouse decision is needed now Too much time has been spent while region has grown and needs of our courts have expanded No one ever said the wheels of justice turn swiftly. That goes double for the establishment of a Durham Regional Courthouse, or supercourt, for the Region. For years now, the facilities "available in the region for dispensing dispensing justice have been inadequate. inadequate. Especially when it comes to bail courtrooms and staff, there is just not enough court space, not enough judges, not enough ! prosecutors, to get the job done. Long-time lawyers here such as Alex Sosna and Bemie O'Brien have been vocal in calling for more - especially modem facilities and staff - in Durham Region. After all, municipalities here are growing rapidly and the halls of justice are not expanding to meet those needs. While it was nearly a decade ago that the outgoing NDP government government of Bob Rae promised a consolidated courthouse for the region, little, if any, real progress seems to have been made. And, during that time period, the Region, which outgrew its own shared courts building on Rossland Road, has itself gone ahead and planned for the future. It is on the verge of moving into its own new $69-million facility adjacent to the old building and faces a parking problem where the old courthouse is located. Dealings with the Province on how to work around the old building have been stalled and could reach a crisis level come July 2005 ' when 'the old court building is slated for the wrecking wrecking ball. Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the provincial ministry of the attorney general, has been the point man on all questions regarding the courthouse for many years. The civil servant has been forced to play his cards close to his vest, whether working for a Tory or Liberal minister. All he will say is that talks are "proceeding well," between the Region and the Province. This latest crisis, if you will, should never have been an issue. The Province, which has been in power for a full year now, has had time to review all the information regarding a Durham supercourt and should have made an announcement by now as to location, size and cost. There are private partners lined up to get the job rolling but the Province has. dilly-dallied to the point nothing is imminent. In order to carry out justice in a fair and efficient manner, Durham Durham needs a regional courthouse to replace the crazy-quilt patch- work of storefront malls and soon-to-be-demolished buildings. buildings. The time for action and an announcement is now so that work can be started imminently. BACKWARD GLANCE Windsor Hotel, Newcastle DIDN'T R/EN W\kE TUB TOP \o.. , ' ■ |4jg CLICK AND SAY Today's question: Do you believe we do enough to honour our veterans at this time of year? Cast your vote online at infodurhamregion.com Last week's question: Are you worried about the safety of children's candy handed out on Halloween? Yes 55.4% No 44.6% Votes: 139 HAVE YOUR SAY Should we be doing more to honour our war vets at this time of the year? i LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to ncwsroom@durhamregion.com Photo supplied by Clarington Museums and Archives The former Windsor Hotel, Newcastle. The area was burned in the winter of 1896. President was able to fool people To the editor: Re: U.S. must not re-elect its worst-ever president, Tim Kelly column of Oct. 22. While I agree with Tim Kelly's overall sentiments regarding Bush, it was carrying things too far to suggest that other countries countries choose the U.S. president. I would guess that it was more a case of wishful thinking than something seriously proposed. However, the notion put forth by one letter writer that only liberals would come up with the idea of choosing another country's country's leader is downright laughable. laughable. History shows that right-wing U.S. leaders have often been instrumental in replacing other , countries' leaders and that is precisely precisely what is happening right now in Iraq. Unfortunately, what U.S. Bush voters and your latest letter writers writers have in common is the mistaken mistaken belief that Bush is defeating defeating terrorism. In reality, the opposite is happening. happening. His policies are generating generating further anti-Americanism in the Middle East and leading to even greater enthusiasm among Muslim extremists to sign up to join terrorist groups to fight what is perceived as U.S. imperialism. imperialism. If, on the other hand, voters choose Kerry, the U.S. can make a speedier withdrawal from Iraq and still save face, rather than continuing to fuel the fires of terrorism. Bush has few strengths but he lias made the most of one he has -- an ability to fool people into thinking he knows what lie's doing. Linda Tabcrncr Bowmanville Don't butt out on the ground To the editor: It never ceases to amaze me how many individuals who claim to have respect for their community community show little regard for it through their actions. In particular, I am talking about people who recklessly throw their cigarette butts onto the ground whenever they are done as opposed to placing them in proper receptacles. Go to any retail outlet, office building or any commercial property property and you will see a ground littered with, cigarette butts in front of or near an entrance. This is often despite the fact that cigarette receptacles are placed for their convenience nearby. If you smoke and you do this, you are breaking the law by littering and are showing a complete complete lack of respect for your community and your fellow citizens.. citizens.. • Eric Novak Muslims celebrate Ramadan To the editor: The time for spiritual, physical, physical, and moral purification has arrived as Muslims across the world welcome Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. calendar. ' Muslims engage in fasting by abstaining from food, drink, arid worldly pleasures from dawn to dusk.Exempted from fasting are children, the elderly, travellers, and those who cannot fast due to health conditions, Ramadan is the month in which the Koran, the holy book of Islam, was revealed to the final messenger, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In addition to being a religious obligation in Islam, fasting has numerous benefits. It is an excellent way to strengthen one's willpower by controlling instincts -ana temptations temptations for a fixed period of time. By doing so, the human being attains higher spiritual realms, ones that are otherwise overlooked. overlooked. Although fasting can be a challenging challenging task, Muslims continue their daily routine; be it school or work. Hunger is surely felt in the cold winter days, and thirst is felt in the heat of the summer, but the . believers tough it out. , Each night, friends and families families enjoy delicious meals as they break the fast and prepare for the next one. , The nature of the cuisine varies with ethnicity. The month of Ramadan is a time for celebrating the bounties of the Almighty and a means of self-purification. It is a unique time for reflection, reflection, sharing, and forgiveness. Zaheer Abbas Karim LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submission submission in 30 days. We decline announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom® durhamregion. com. Kamaclan is me mourn m wmun _ - m Let's stop labelling and start talking Election can bring out the worst in each of us 1 planned long ago to go on the news junkie's equivalent of a bender last night, wandering dizzily from network to network in search of an information fix on the U.S. election. But it's probably not just the seasoned addicts like me who are stumbling into work bleary- eyed and dishevelled this morn- Jennifer Paige ing; even those who only dabble socially in current events arc likely suffering. Lei's face it, following the 2004 race for the U.S. presidency has been habit- forming, Of course, by the lime this column column went to press, the outcome of the vole was unknown, but opinion polls have consistently shown a split down the middle, and many pollsters have predicted predicted early on that, whatever the election's verdict (barring a victory victory for Ralph Nader), the losing side would not accept the legality legality of a victory by the opposing party. Seldom before, and certainly never in my lifetime, has there been an election -- and a foreign one at that --that has left people so deeply divided, to the point where liberals and conservatives, eaeii intoxicated by a sense of moral superiority, have apparently apparently lost their ability to engage in meaningful discourse. In some cases, right and left arc not even on speaking terms, which only widens the gap. According to conventional psychological psychological wisdom, and common powers of observation, a dangerous dangerous tiling happens as liberals talk politics exclusively with fellow liberals, and conservatives hold court on the issues only with' fellow conservatives: Surprise! It breeds and reinforces extremism. extremism. The fact is, whatever our political political leanings, we all inhabit a single planet and we all have to live together. Chris McCaustlin "November 11 is my birthday, and yes we should treat them better." Jake Krishko "There should be more than one day of remembrance to honour them." St ' . ■ ■> Ryan Schoep "We should do more. They put everything on the line for our freedom." But the only way we can hope to accomplish that ideal is by learning to be flexible, Maybe, in the wake of a campaign campaign full of mud-slinging and underhanded tactics by members of both sides, we will be inspired to take a step back and take stock. Maybe we can take a moment to listen and consider an opposing view when it's presented. The first step is to admit we have a problem. News editor Jennifer Paige's column appears every second second Wednesday. Email jpaige@durhamregm.com JoanPrice "We should do more. My husband husband was a Second World War vet. We should do all we can to remember how young some of them were and the sacrifices they made." The Canadian Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, •Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of the. Bowmalnville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Commerce, Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. Credit for. advertisement advertisement limited to space price error occupies. Editorial and Advertising content of the Canadian Statesman Is copyrighted. Unauthorized reproduction reproduction is prohibited, Jpcna