Leeanna Pendergast, Liberal candidate for Kitchener Conestoga, has answered the Wag the Dog questionnaire.
Thank you for a clear response, Leeanna and thanks for sending along a picture of your family with your Labrador retriever.
1. If the amended Dog Owners' Liability Act (2005) came up today for a free rather than a whipped vote as happened in 2005, would you vote in favour of banning breeds as an effective way to protect people from dog bites? Please explain.
The Public Safety Related to Dogs Statute Law Amendment Act (formerly Bill 132) is now law and the government has implemented the legislation. That legislation bans pit bulls and toughens penalties for the owners of any dog that poses a danger to the public.
We are committed to building safe, strong communities and protecting Ontarians. We passed this legislation to respond to the concerns of Ontarians about their personal safety. We heard loud and clear that Ontarians want to be protected from the menace of pit bulls as well as from irresponsible owners of any dangerous dogs. We believe this law will help protect not only Ontarians, but also many
2. Please tell our readers why you think the 'pit bull' ban enacted by the McGuinty government has or has not been successful in protecting the public from dog bites.
There is documented proof of the success of pit bull bans:
In
3. Would you be willing, if elected, to work to rescind Ontario's amended Dog Owners' Liability Act (2005) and replace it with an existing, easily implemented Canadian system that has been effective in the control of negligent pet owners, that is supported by all responsible pet owners and that once established is fully funded by dog and cat owners rather than through general revenue taxation? Please briefly explain your response.
We passed the Public Safety Related to Dogs Statute Law Amendment Act to respond to the concerns of Ontarians about their personal safety, and we proudly stand behind this law.
4. How important to you is the issue of amending Ontario's animal cruelty legislation, the Ontario SPCA Act, using a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is 'not at all important' and 10 is 'extremely important')?
At a recent news conference, Minister Monte Kwinter recognized the need to modernize the Ontario SPCA Act and committed to continue working with stakeholders with a view to making amendments to the Ontario SPCA Act to further animal protection in the province. Kwinter acknowledged that Ontarians expect better protection for animals against mistreatment and acts of cruelty. “With help from animal experts across
Hmmm the article just above this post from Leeanna Pendergast is about a woman in Thornhill who was charged under DOLA for owning a “pit bull”. However the “pit bull” was a Lab! I wonder if Leeanna would still endorse this legislation if she knew her dog (in photo) is also a target?? What the hell? I wonder if Leeanna's dog is a registered purebred? Looks like a “pit bull” to me!!
I wonder who wrote this stock reply for rookies? I guess the facts aren't important to the Fiberals. These people are shameless liars.
typical politician, dance around the questions, use a lot of words that mean nothing, and when in doubt repeat the party leader's views. I haven't voted for years because of drivel like this, however I will be voting for anyone but the Liberal party.
Actually, they mean a lot. They mean that the Fibs still have their heads up their a**ses and think they can stonewall their stupid slogans in the face of the facts.
I wonder if this rookie knows that Kitchener didn't ban the purebreds and advised the province to do the same? I wonder if she knows that the '15 bites' were all caused by one dog, who was finally shot by the police after running at large randomly biting people? I wonder if she knows that 'pit bulls', even when several breeds, lookalike breeds and mutts are lumped into one category, were never a problem in Kitchener?
I can't believe the Fibs won't own up to their failure to uphold democracy in Ontario due to a misguided, media-fueled idea. Well, yes, I can believe that, since they are completely gutless. If they weren't, we wouldn't be in this position.
If the public supported this insane notion, then why weren't they at the Committee hearings, why weren't they writing letters to the papers, why weren't they at court?
Oh, I forgot, hardly anybody supported the ban but everybody with properly firing neurons was against it.
wow… isn't it strange to see what some people choose to be proud of? Too bad I did't know that Mrs. Pendergast liked labs so much (at least it looks like a lab to me) because where I work, we just put a young neutered male to sleep, oh but wait, that was for SEVERE aggression issues!!!
Very sad!
Liberals are masterful Liars I just don't know how they live with themselves. They delibrately put out MISINFORMATION and THEN repeat those same lies. Pit Bull BANS do NOT Work because they TARGET a certain TYPE of dog and NOT a dangerous dog. This is the 3rd answer I have read from Liberals and YES they are ALL just about the same. IF THESE DOGS WERE BAD WHY DID 86% OF THE DOG PROFESSIONALS BEG YOU GUYS NOT TO PASS THIS STUPID LAW????? Why did you listen to JUST the 17% who wanted it (AND ALSO WANTED OTHER DOGS PUT ON THE BANNED LIST at THAT time)? You keep on saying the general public wanted this BUT THAT IS A LIE as I have spoken to many of the PUBLIC and don't know of anyone yet who wanted this. HOWEVER I know the Peter Worthington of the Toronto SUN WANTED THIS BADLY. Liberals should read other papers aside from the SUN AND should check out the REAL stats on where dogs are banned. Italy NOW at 93 Banned or Restricted Breeds, Bermuda 23, Germany 16, Ireland JUST went to 11. BSL DOES NOT WORK BUT MAKING OWNER'S RESPONSIBLE for the dogs WILL! ALSO INFORCING ANIMAL CRUELTY AND INSURING THAT SOMEONE CONVITED OF CRUELTY DOES NOT GET TO OWN ANOTHER ANIMAL. Why should beautiful, loving, dogs raised properly have to die because of how they LOOK. God help us in Ontario.