WHEN THE GOVERNMENT TURNS AGAINST ITS OWN CITIZENS

A letter from one of our readers addressed to C.A.G.E.'s vice-president Iro Cyr, that speaks volumes on how public health is hurting more than it is helping. And please don't think that Nadia is an isolated incident. We are surrounded with persons that are either too afraid to say what is on their mind or too fearful to tip the pot in fear of being labelled as negative or disgruntled. If you have had just about enough of your life being dictated by those who are paid to serve us, please remember that you are not alone. Massively expressing it to our elected officials will inevitably turn our whispers into cries.

Quite frankly, I don't know where to begin.... I have often felt as the "odd" duck throughout my life. I am a 43 year old woman living in Ontario and I am filled with such anger and feel as though my opinions and beliefs have been ignored. I am known as a very outspoken and passionate person. I have a problem being told what I should think and how I should act or react in a situation. It's not that I have an issue with being told what to do but I do have a very BIG issue with being told what to do when not given a good enough or valid reason for doing it.

When I read your biography on line, I was so inspired to see that you had the ambition and drive to go after what you believed in. I respected your passion and commitment for the cause at hand. When I was reading your biography, I had shivers up my back as I truly made a connection with what you stood for. It never ceases to amaze me as to how many people fear "freedom of speech & expression". I am in an environment that feels as though I am surrounded by robots that are willing to go day to day without having an option or at least not bothering to express what they really feel.

I HAVE HAD ENOUGH WITH OUR GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION!!!! I am a first generation Canadian. My parents immigrated here from Europe almost 50 years ago and when they arrived, they weren't given any sort of financial or emotional support like they do for the immigrants of today. My parents recalled having a bus pick them up early in the mornings to go work in the fields. My parents never collected a dime from Welfare as the were never told what Welfare was or what Government programs were available to them. They lived in Montreal when they first came and then made their way to Hamilton, Ontario. Not only did they not know the system but they also had a language barrier issue. I have enormous respect for both of them and it angers me so much to see that some of their liberties are being taken away after sacrificing so much to the success of this country. It was on their broken backs that this Government prospered and now that they are retired, this Government will not allow them to sit in a cafe and have a cigarette.

My parents are seniors and live in an apartment and just recently I heard that these non-smoking advocats are now considering the banning of smoking in apartment buildings....Where the hell do they get off???

My parents are old and they both smoke, have always smoked and will continue to smoke. What right do persons have to tell other people what they can do in the privacy of their own home? What will be next?? Don't people see that everytime we allow the government to create another senseless law that we are giving up another one of our freedoms. Just because a particular law may not apply to someone, the public fails to see that the Government is closing us in more and more. These bureaucrats that sit in parliament get paid to make up and support laws regardless of how stupid or inappropriate they may be. They need to justify their jobs and positions at the expense of Canadians and their rights.

It makes me ill when I hear persons say "we are a free country"!!! Everyday we are becoming less free than the day before. Now with the excuse of a recession, the term "socialist" is becoming clearer. A system of social organization (namely our Government) in which the means of producing and distributing good is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy. Ontario's Premier, Dalton McGuinty has now passed a Harmonized Tax in Ontario stating that the reason for this is to help the Ontario economy to recover from the recession. What a lot of hogwash!!! This is going to cost the average home an extra $500 to $600 annually. We are already tripled taxed!! I pay tax to work, I pay tax to eat and soon we will be paying a tax to breath!

I am so tired and frustrated with the people of this country for being so passive. I am now frustrated with Health Canada and their failure to actively reasearch the ecigarette that is now available in the USA and abroad. I have been a smoker for over 20 years and I have tried every method available to quit. I am very interested in this new electronic cigarette and would like it available to me. Now, I am a level headed and reasonable person and do know that the FDA in the US is a lot quicker at releasing items to the public a lot more freely than Canada. I do think that Health Canada should further reaserch the ecigarette but I want them to assure me that they will examine it and not sweep it under the carpet. If they can allow the patch, the inhaler and the gum just to name a few, then why not allow this gadget. We all know why and it's about time that we step up.

I have so many more issues that I want to get off my chest and do not have platform to do so. I am sorry for sending such a long winded email but I am at my witts end. Thank you for listening and most importantly for what you stand for!

Nadia Kosta

HE WHO CONTROLS THE MEDIA... (PART 2)

Back in March, we posted a comment under the title ‘’He Who Controls the Media’’. The person who submitted the story to us, asked that we take it down because he felt intimidated by the attitude the CAJ (Canadian Association of Journalism) demonstrated towards him and his association -- Tobacco Smokers of Canada.

Luckily, a reporter who is a member of the board of directors of the CAJ, Mr. Kerry Diotte, did not hesitate to write a column about the hypocrisy and the political correctness of the board of director members of the CAJ, no matter how his opinion might be considered a heresy by his peers.

We are reproducing Mr. Diotte’s article below that needs no comment from our part except for commending Mr. Diotte for his courage in exposing a very disturbing trend in journalists: Political correctness that stifles freedom of speech. Having experienced this type of journalistic attitude first hand, we can only full heartedly agree with Mr. Diotte’s column.

Smokin' mad at hypocrisy

If you asked most people, they'd tell you they're not big fans of hypocrisy and political correctness.

So how is it that journalists, of all people, can fall prey to those two nasty traits?

For the last couple of weeks, board members of a national journalism association have engaged in some heated discussion over an advertisement a lobby group wanted to place in Media magazine

.

That's the publication for the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ). I'm one of 13 people on the CAJ's national board.

Normally, we see eye-to-eye on motherhood issues, including freedom of speech, fairness from bias, truth, accuracy ...

But when a pro-smoking group called Tobacco Smokers of Canada wanted to advertise in our national magazine, all bets were off. I've learned one lesson: Where there's smoke, there's ire.
In a display of hypocrisy and political correctness, our magazine publisher turned the group down flat, claiming the ad violates Canada's Tobacco Act. Most all board members agreed with the decision.

No lawyer was called for a legal opinion, I'm told.

In my view and the view of an Ottawa consultant intimately familiar with the Tobacco Act, the ad is perfectly legal, especially since the magazine is targeted only at people over the age of 18.
Political correctness and hypocrisy were behind the decision, not rule of law.

Judge the ad for yourself:

"Dear News Industry: The opposing side of the tobacco smoke issue is not being reported. Many researchers, scientists, even doctors and politicians, as well as millions of news reading, taxpaying voters, do not believe the anti-smoking claims about second-hand tobacco smoke.

"We tobacco smokers appeal to you all. Please, also report our side of the tobacco smoking issue in accordance with the principles and ethics of journalism and the news industry's fiduciary duty to the public."

The group then rubbed a little salt in the wound by quoting, in the ad, the CAJ's principles and ethics guidelines that include the defence of free speech and the belief in allowing "disparate and conflicting views."

Clearly, the ad is not advertising tobacco and the smoking group had a right to its opinion.
That seemed lost on most CAJ board members.

Some said we'd have to investigate the group's claims and delve into the studies disputing the extent of harm caused by second-hand smoke.

Others figured the group spokesman should write a column, not buy an ad.

When I asked one board member if they would grill every potential advertiser on the facts of every ad submitted, I received this response: "Yes, every time someone wants to place an ad dealing with any product proven to kill people I would definitely ask these kinds of questions."
lt's obvious from that some people just have blinders on when it comes to the topic of tobacco, which is, last I checked, a legal product in Canada.

A major study published in the British Medical Journal backs up the group's view that second-hand smoke is not as deadly as most anti-smoking activists claim.

In that study, more than 118,000 adults were monitored for almost four decades. Essentially, it found that people exposed to a life of second-hand smoke were about as healthy as those who weren't.

It concluded: "The results do not support a causal relation between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco-related mortality, although they do not rule out a small effect."

It's tragic when political correctness trumps freedom of speech.

E-mail kerry.diotte@sunmedia.ca Or see: blog.canoe.ca/diotte