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- Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, August 25, 2004 Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 GST = $32.00 per year. -&Y ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St. PS. Boxm Omo ON UB 1M0 Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 • Agreement No. 40012366 Email: oronotimes9rogers.com or Phone/Fax 905-983-5301 Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through Sports and Display Advertising - Donna Wood ; ; : the Publications Assistance Program (P AP) toward our mailing costs. p ront office and Classified Advertising : Rosey Bateman i „.. ... , ^ CanadS Tlie Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects ret'umed'we rest* "the ^hfto'édi! for length libel and slander If your retarli f,S s S r taÆftTpK'S 3,"o, r a„ f tor must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible lor the loss or damage of such Lems. j Weekly Times Where is the spirit of the Olympics? The 2004 summer Olympics are nearing an end and the talk in Canada seems to be more about the medals we didn't didn't win. ■ The Canadian Olympic Committee toughened up the requirements for the 2004 games and as a result we sent a very small team to Greece this summer. Our Olympic showing led Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star to write that Canada's medal count is slightly ahead of countries without electricity, and about even with countries countries that don't have their own money.. While Canada does have an Olympic program, it is well known that our athletes are living at, or below the poverty line. Even though we swell up with pride when a Canadian athlete or team bring home a medal, we don't seem to want to put mega dollars into a national athletics program to ensure a good medal showing. Staging an Olympic Games has become an undertaking of mammoth proportions. Security alone for the games probably equals the homeland security budgets of some countries with the prospect for future games going nowhere but up. Which begs thé question, is the Olympics about money or the pursuit of excellence? . . We too could have an Olympic team to compare in size to that of the U.S. or Australia, but it would cost us. Our federal treasury has commitments such as the gun registry, health care, and national defense. Increased dollars dollars for a national athletics program that would guarantee medals could be achieved, but not without an additional tax burden on the Canadian public. Are we willing to pay the price? . There is no Olympic joy greater than witnessing some athlete from a third world country with no sports program and no designer Olympic gear, win a medal on ability alone. That, to me, is the true Olympic spirit. Letters to the Editor "Sharia Law" Dear Editor: Trying to understand a tiny particle of Islamic thought, may I. attempt .toy. answer Rosey Bateman's question "What is Sharia Law," by acknowledging that, as among Christian sects, there exist many definitions. "The Crisis of Islam" by Bernard Lewis, states: "God is concerned with politics, and this belief is confirmed confirmed and sustained by the Sharia, the Holy Law, which deals extensively with the acquisition and exercise of power, the nature of legitimacy legitimacy and authority, the duties of ruler and subject; in a word, with what we in the West would call constitutional law and political philosophy." In the west, we like to think that we practise a healthy separation separation of church and stale. "In the spirit of the sharia, Muslims identified themselves themselves with the Prophet, whose life had been saturated with the divine. To imitate the prophet (by being kind to orphans, to the poor or to animals, animals, or by behaving at meals with courtesy and refinement- was) to be loved by God him-;. : self, according to Karen Armstrong's "Islam". The 1991 Ontario Arbitration Act allows two people to have a third person arbitrate their civil dispute. The exercise is voluntary and reduces the load on our court system. Either party can challenge challenge the outcome in court, on the grounds that the consent was involuntary or that the verdict was unfair or unlawful. unlawful. In The Toronto Star, May 2004, Professor Horn a Arjomand, who lied Iran in 1989, was described as 'heading 'heading a campaign to stop the use of sharia tribunals in Canada, which she believes entrench the inequality of women'. Apparently, many Muslim women are genuinely concerned concerned about patriarchal interpretations interpretations of Muslim family law. Others have written in sup- SHARIA soe page 3 in ( 1 ; : y i O'Toole Province Considering End to Mandatory Retirement The government of Ontario has announced consultation into legislation that would end mandatory retirement at age 65.' Currently, there is no restriction on how many years Ontarians can choose to work. However, companies that require workers to retire at age 65 cannot be challenged by human rights legislation. The province is considering considering legislation that would make mandatory retirement discriminatory and essentially allow all workers to continue employment past age 65 if they wanted to do so. Age is no barrier to the skills, strong work ethic and commitment that older employees possess. In fact, according to statistics, experienced workers may use less sick leave than younger workers. It's important that Ontarians who want to work past 65 should have the right to do so. At the same time, I would be reluctant to see the elimination of mandatory retirement used as an excuse to turn back the clock and delay pensions until age 70. It should be the right of every person to choose, without affecting his or her pension. ' The Canadian Association of Retired Persons; is among the organizations advocating an end to mandatory retirement. retirement. If the provincial government government takes the time to get the legislation right, 1 am confident confident policies can.be developed developed to give employees a choice, without obligating them to work longer than they are able. Mandatory retirement is considered discriminatory under the law in Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Yukon. I would appreciate your thoughts on mandatory retirement. retirement. Please contact me at 905-697-1501 or 1-800-661- 2433 or by e-mail at john_otoole@ontla.ola.org. Finance Committee Reviews:?, ; Securities Regulations j| | ; . v As-s : .a r , member ' of .the * Ontario. - Legislature's Committee Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, I have had a unique opportunity to, review proposed - changes in7 the Ontario securities industry.:; Last week, the Finance Committee held consultations into the report qf the Five- Year Review Committee. (Commonly referred jto: a? the Purdy-Crawford Reporti) This committee was given thé responsibility to review: the Securities Act. Among its recommendations is a single nation-wide regulator, that would' replace the current patchwork of 13 agencies across Canada. Recommendations Recommendations also include increased court fines and prison terms for general offences, new powers for the OSC to impose fines for securities violations and to order offenders to disgorge disgorge their ill-gotten gains. New rule-making powers for the OSC to make corporate O'TOOLE sn page 5