"Hey Buddy, is this the way to Ontario? We hear our kind is welcome there."
In his book, The Woodcutter, Reginald Hill describes a Victorian prison that has retained its forbidding exterior while totally modernizing its operations and interior. Keeping the grimy facade satisfies the 'floggers and hangers'.
Ontario's self-styled Liberal (please) government hangs on to the most ill-conceived, un-Canadian, pandering piece of legislation since WWII the way a Scottie grips a bad guy's ass.
Meet the new Preem, same as the old Preem. This is not surprising, since she has been in government since 2003. Optimists among us had hoped that someone new with no investment in Ontario's dog ownership ban would be able to let it go gracefully.
Alas, Ms Wynne (a member of a once marginalized minority herself - she's a lesbian) not only refuses to acknowledge her government's grave mistake, but is supporting the legislation for reasons that are right out of the Peta playbook. (It was probably the only source she could find that is a real, live looney-bin and not just a website out in the boondocks of cyberspace.)
On the one hand, "pit bulls" are supposedly the most abused dogs out there (they aren't, but you knew that). The thinking is that we must exterminate them in order to protect them. I shudder to think what their cure for child abuse would be.
On the other, a couple of people had been savagely abused by "pit bulls" so action was required. Now, in case you thought they had a similar solution to that problem, rest easy-ish. Again, it's "pit bulls" who must go.
Sticky wicket for "pit bull" owners, eh, because enforcement of longstanding legislation doesn't seem to be an option. To stamp out crime, remove the victims. I must admit there is a certain elegance to it. Trouble is, the ones who are abusing "pit bulls" (other than the ones who spread lies through media) are the people who enact and cling to this type of legislation.
But cheer up, Charlie, there is hope on the horizon! In the US, new Bills are being brought forward almost daily to make breed/shape-specific legislation illegal at the State level. And they are passing. Towns and cities are rejecting BSL out of hand or repealing it. More and more places are becoming enlightened. Check out Stop BSL for updates and lots of other useful information.
Sure, there are pockets of corruption (h/t Bronwen) out there, but it's pretty much over, thanks to a lot of dedicated people all over this continent (and others). We are winning. We are the good guys, after all, so we are supposed to win (#happily_ever_after).
Ontario may soon be the last jurisdiction of any note to cling to its legislated bigotry. BSL gives permission to hate for superficial reasons. It is enacted to supposedly target 'dealers' and 'gang-bangers', terms which are just dog whistles for young men who are poor or new to the country. BSL is only supported by those who either know nothing about it or directly benefit from it. The true evil of it is that it panders to those who just have to hate something or someone and don't care much whom or what it is.
It's an embarrassment to real Canadians to have had such a law even considered, never mind enacted, especially in the face of overwhelming opposition by every expert out there and tens of thousands of citizens.
It must go and so must those who passed it and continue to support it.
Remember when an election is finally announced to
VOTE AS IF YOUR FRIEND'S LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
It's the least you can do.
I see that Brent at KC Dog Blog is also in a positive frame of mind this week.
You think that lesbian women are a marginalized minority? Hardly. These days, they are members of a privileged class who can get anything that they want by claiming discrimination. The only really marginalized minority is straight white men. Not only can we never claim to be victims, but we are deemed to be the oppressor merely by virtue of who we are. Maybe that's why I relate so well with "pit bulls". The underclass of dog that gets not respect and is blamed for everything that is wrong in the world.
Poor Ontario, once a save haven for runaway slaves, now has its own reverse underground railroad to rescue dogs oppressed in Ontario.
Posted by: Bryan | Mar 21, 2013 at 01:05 PM
Yes, I must change that to 'previously marginalized'. Good catch.
Posted by: Selma | Mar 21, 2013 at 01:27 PM
BSL "legislated bigotry" how very true. Gotta share this blog
Posted by: Liz | Mar 24, 2013 at 03:45 PM