*IMPORTANT* GREEN PARTY's POSITION ON THE ONTARIO PITBULL BAN

[Kayla]

*CROSSPOST from another forum*

I emailed my green party candidate yester day asking where her party stands on Bill 132. Here is her response.

Dear Ms. Henry,

The GPO would repeal the Dog Owner's Liability Act (DOLA), which contains breed-specific legislation aimed at "pit bulls" or "pit bull type dogs."

The Green Party does not support breed-specific legislation, but rather promotes responsible dog ownership by cracking down on bad dog owners, not "bad" breeds. We recognize the risk that dogs can pose to our community members. Therefore we promote responsible dog ownership by:


Strictly enforcing dog registration laws, and requiring registered dogs to be spayed or neutered (providing exemptions for registered show and breeding dogs)
Enforcing existing laws on puppy mills and backyard breeders
Create new legislation banning humans from chaining dogs up unsupervised, or teasing restrained or enclosed dogs, with penalties including fines and imprisonment
Thank you for your interest in this issue.
Sincerely,
Karolyne Pickett

Karolyne Pickett
Candidate- parti vert de l'Ontario/ Green Party of Ontario
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
613-741-8175


still haven't been able to get ahold of my conservative candidate here

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

Woooo Hoooo! I like the sounds of them. I so wish I was an Ontario resident. I would be the first at the poles.

 

[Kayla]

I e-mailed the NDP, conservative and Liberal Candidate in my area as well and am still waiting back to hear from them but will post them as well ASAP since the election is less then 8 days away.

Kayla

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

The NDP and Conservatives also want to get rid of BSL and replace it with a dangerous dog bylaw type of thing.

 

[SummerRiot]

Oh I like the sounds of that MUCH better!! YAY!!

FINALLY some good news around the corner..

 

[Dave-W]

I wonder why the Green Party can't have the same position on Gun Ownership.

 

[Buckshot]

I wonder why the Green Party can't have the same position on Gun Ownership.

Because many green organizations with money and power are completely opposed to hunting. For some reason firearm ownership has become about hunting

 

[Dave-W]

If firearm ownership were all about hunting, I wouldn't even own a gun.

Sorry to side-track there.

Credit is due the Green Party up there in Canada, however, for this stand on asinine BSL's.

 

[Dekka]

Conservatives are not planning on repealing this. Looks like I might be voting green

 

[vanillasugar]

I was talking to the federal green party candidate breifly at the farmers market this weekend, and was already leaning towards voting green for other reasons, this just tipped my vote It's unfortunate they don't *actually* have a chance of taking office, but perhaps if they get enough support, the big parties will realise where the public opinion lies.

 

[oc_spirit]

As much as I like that they oppose Pit Bull Ban I do not like that they want to mandate neutering of all dogs unless it is a show dog. Thats just as good as California...lovely...looks like NDP for me if it is true they oppose BSL

 

[Dekka]

The NDP told me they weren't going to repeal it either. The green party won't get in, but if say the conservatives do, then maybe they will look at repealing (which they say they might..but that could just be to get my vote)

 

[Buckshot]

I was talking to the federal green party candidate breifly at the farmers market this weekend, and was already leaning towards voting green for other reasons, this just tipped my vote It's unfortunate they don't *actually* have a chance of taking office, but perhaps if they get enough support, the big parties will realise where the public opinion lies.

I love to see people looking outside the other two parties. I wont vote for any of the Greens I have read about, because they seem too bound to anti freedom ideas that have grown (in the US). You are probably right, they probably wont win, but they certainly wont if people dont vote for them and it is far better IMO to vote for them than to cast a vote that makes the tyrant parties think they are doing well by us. If you vote for one of the popular parties (which aren't very popular) you tell them they are doing a fine job. If you dont vote they arent worried about you. If you vote for a third party you are screaming in their face that you are a voter and you dont like what they do. They may have to change their thinking to earn your vote. I know this is not about the US, but it seems the same anywhere people are allowed to vote.

 

[SummerRiot]

I just called up the NDP office, and they are currently in the process of sending me an Email with all the links that they have talked about in the discussions.. soo.. I'll post it when I get it.

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

The other two major political parties in Ontario (Progressive Conservative and New Democrats) have said publicly and privately that they disagree with this law and that they would like to see it replaced with strict, no-nonsense legislation that targets the behaviour of irresponsible owners.

Taken from the "State Of The Province" thread posted by DryCreek.

http://chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63027

 

[DryCreek]

Personally, I will be voting strategically. Only one party has a chance of taking over.

We also have a referendum this election to see if we should change our electoral system from a first past the post system to a mixed member proportional system. I'm leaning toward the change. It seems to allow for the smaller party's to get more seats. You vote for your riding and then also vote for a party. It might help the NDP's or the Green Party get a stronger voice.

I don't know how I'm going to deal with the next week until voting time. This has got to be the most important election for me yet. There is so much riding on it...

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

I am confused. Some have said that the NDP and PC's are for BSL and some have said that they are against. I am not a voter but can someone clear this up for me?

 

[DryCreek]

NDP info from DLCC's blog

http://www.dlccblog.com/2007/08/ndp-statement-o.html

August 02, 2007
NDP STATEMENT ON ONTARIO'S BREED BAN
Toronto MPP Rosario Marchese (NDP - Trinity Spadina) had this to say when contacted for a position statement on Ontario's breed ban:

"With respect to the pitbull legislation, our stance has not changed.

We oppose breed specific legislation. Our position is that the breed specific legislation that is on the books now is ineffective and should be changed."

I don't think it could be any clearer. The Ontario NDP party opposes BSL.

GET OUT AND VOTE IN ONTARIO'S PROVINCIAL ELECTION ON OCTOBER 10

PC's info on Caveat's blog

http://caveat.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/9/23/3248297.html

Sun 23 Sep 2007 01:19 PM EDT
This month's Dogs in Canada, the magazine circulated to all CKC members and other subscribers, ran an article which featured statements by Progressive Conservative candidates John Tory and Jim Wilson about Ontario's notorious dog ownership ban.

The statements were clear and straightforward. The PC Party of Ontario is opposed to the idea of banning shapes of dogs as a safety measure. Since the original Bill was introduced in the Legislature, members of the PC Party have spoken out against the ban in no uncertain terms. They have supported the DLCC at events, in House debates and in correspondence. (The NDP people have done a lot for us, too.)

Works for me but apparently, it wasn't enough to satisfy author Eric Sparling.

This writer chose to put a very negative bias into what was nothing more than an opinion piece. He jumped to baseless conclusions and failed to interview either a Liberal or NDP candidate to get their comments. Instead, he chose to quote a pollster with Angus Reid, for reasons which are unclear. He gave more space to the Angus Reid hack than he did to the politicians who were supposedly the focus of the article.

The piece became very negative, with statements by the pollster which were reinforced by Sparling, to the effect that there would be a 'backlash' over the issue, that the ban was popular and so on, so it is unlikely that anyone will overturn it. The basis for these statements is unknown.

One can't help but wonder if the petulant writer, failing to get a clear promise to overturn the law in the middle of an election campaign, decided to undermine the PC stance on this issue. The most unfortunate aspect of the article, aside from the transparently negative spin, was that no alternative course of action was suggested other than a half-hearted admonishment at the end to question candidates. Wow, novel idea, just like the t-shirt slogan and the drawing of a person I've been told is supposed to be the Attorney General wearing a muzzle. Three-year-old ideas from someone who is not in the loop about the work we have been doing behind the scenes.

Any dog owner (and there seem to be a few of them out there) who believes that a politician would stand up in the middle of a campaign against the Liberals and state that if elected, they would overturn the ban, is obviously not up to speed on how things work.

I can see it now - A veteran PC candidate makes a public commitment to overturn the ban. A few days later, or just prior to the election, some 'pit bull' attacks take place in the province.

We wouldn't expect relentless coverage and hyperbolic editorials to crop up in certain Big L-liberal media outlets, would we?

We wouldn't expect candidates who were instrumental in bringing in this odious piece of legislation to play it for all it was worth with the non-dog savvy public, would we?

After all, elections are about principles and defending small minorities, not going for the largest number of votes, aren't they?

Everyone would understand what we understand, that 'pit bull' bans are ineffective, discriminatory, unfounded and fiscally irresponsible once it was explained to them, wouldn't they?

Oh yeah, sure thing. If you believe that, I've got a purebred American Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier I can let you have for a song.

*

In case you hadn't noticed, we do NOT share the opinions of the author, Eric Sparling. We would like to thank all MPPs from both Opposition parties who have supported us throughout McGuinty’s reign of terror. We urge all Ontario dog owners to

1. Get out and VOTE!
2. Vote for the candidate most likely to oust the Liberal in your riding!

Hope that helped some

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

Thanks

 

[SummerRiot]

I just got off the phone with our Green Party..

I asked him what his stance was on the BSL act, he is going to Email me more of his information, but we had a good long chat about things.. for about 15-20mins about it.

So far, he hasn't given me a clear answer. He says personally - b/c hes a dog owner he doesn't agree with the banning of a specific breed. I told him that my breed was on the proposed restristed list and went on about all of the things Riot has accomplished etc etc and asked him why he thought Riot deserved to be on there.
He said that it should not be able a breed specific thing. He then asked me what i thought should happen.
I told him that I think the BREED specific legislation should disappear and a "dangerous Dog" law be enforced. I told him that people should perhaps have to have permits to own a dog(going through a test) or have them take a compulsary obedience course/socialzation for any dog.

He agrees its not the breed, its the owners.

So.. i'm just waiting to hear back from him regarding the Email he said he'd send out with more information and a little bit more formal.

I asked what his stance was on the school systems - regarding funding. He thinks that its a bad idea for the private schools to get all of that funding. Not b/c of the discrimination that it would cause, but b/c it would divide the school boards (he is a teacher and has taught at both public and private). He was not for the idea at all.

So..

I haven't heard back from the NDP party yet though.