Positive Response from Mississauga Mayor

This was a breath of fresh air. I always like this woman :)

Dear Ms.:

Thank you for your e-mail dated November 29, 2005. Your concerns
regarding recent amendments to the "Dog Owners' Liability Act"
(DOLA) that ban and restrict the ownership of Pit Bull type dogs is
shared by many citizens.

Mississauga's position has been that breed specific legislation is
not the answer. Over the past several years Mississauga Council has
received four reports dealing with requests for a Pit Bull ban to be
introduced in Mississauga. Each time Council has supported the
recommendation of staff and did not pass a breed specific by-law.
Breed
specific legislation is difficult and onerous to enforce as breed
identification is highly subjective. Further, current data and dog
bite
statistics are vague and unreliable with many dogs improperly
identified.

Mississauga was represented at the public hearings for Bill 132 by the
Director of Enforcement, Elaine Buckstein, who stated that while the
City supported amendments along with stiffer fines and penalties for
owners of all dogs that bite, attack or pose a menace, we were opposed
to the proposed amendments that targeted a specific breed of dog. This
position was shared by many municipalities, as well as other animal
care
and control professionals, agencies and associations across Ontario.

Animal Services staff in Mississauga is busy responding to complaints
as they come in and conducting investigations to ensure that all Pit
Bull owners are in compliance with the spay/neuter, muzzle and leash
requirements set out by the province and to make sure that the dogs are
licensed as per the Animal Control By-law. Owners who are not in
compliance are issued a Notice of Contravention. Failure to comply
within the time specified will result in charges against the owner.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I trust the
foregoing provides a clear understanding of the City's position in
this matter.


Sincerely,



HAZEL McCALLION, C.M.
MAYOR

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We should all email her and thank her for being one of the smart ones...

Hi pitbulliest


Do you still have a copy of the e-mail you sent to hazel........if you do i would like to send it to our mayor to see what response i get here in hamilton.

She is one hell of a woman. And unlike Bryant and McGuinty will continue to stay in power because she accomplishes things and accepts fault. Unlike the McGuinty government who have accomplished nothing other than a pit bull ban in Ontario while blaming the sorry mess they are leaving on the previous governments, the current federal government and of course their favourite scapegoat, Americans, this woman has an outstanding AND LONG career with no end in sight. This is what a politician should be. Too bad she wasn’t premier because we would all be better off.
Here is just some of the biography found at the link. Click on the link and read it all. That goes for you too Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Bryant because you both could learn a hell of a lot from the likes of her.
http://www1.cata.ca/townhall/mayors/hmccallion.cfm
Hazel McCallion was first elected Mayor of Mississauga in November, 1978, and is the longest serving Mayor in the City's history. She was acclaimed in 1980, re-elected in 1982 and 1985, acclaimed again in 1988 and re-elected in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2000. is now in her ninth term as Mayor……………………….
In 1991, Mayor McCallion became the first Mayor of a major municipality to submit the annual operating budget to residents for their input and scrutiny. She is also among the first mayors of major municipalities to be openly committed to a pay-as-you-go philosophy. The City has not had to borrow money since 1978 and is currently debt-free.………………
Mayor McCallion has played a leading role for women in politics. She is the first woman to hold such significant positions as President of the Streetsville and District Chamber of Commerce; President of the Anglican Young Peoples' Association of Canada; Mayor of Streetsville and Mayor of Mississauga. She was chosen one of the "American Women of the Year" in Who's Who of American Women (which refers to North American women). Mayor McCallion also holds Germany's highest individual honour, the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for her role in bringing German companies to Canada.

wdawson..unfortunately...no I don't have it anymore..I thought maybe it would be included in her response but guess not..

I basically stated what the law was...and asked her what her stance on the whole situation was...

I too am a great fan of Hazel McCallion in Mississauga,our mayor here in Oakville,Mrs Mulvale is also a fighter and has been a mayor for many years,I don't know what her stand is on the pit-bull question though.
As far as I know,we've had not pit-bull attacks here,but I know there are a lot of pitties here.

I too am a great fan of Hazel McCallion in Mississauga,our mayor here in Oakville,Mrs Mulvale is also a fighter and has been a mayor for many years,I don't know what her stand is on the pit-bull question though.
As far as I know,we've had not pit-bull attacks here,but I know there are a lot of pitties here.

You have had pit bull problems in Mississauga. I have heard of kids fighting them in parks and destroying public property training them. They use the swing sets in the park to train them. Believe it or not they destroy the swing set. Then again that would really be a stupid person problem not a pit bull problem wouldn’t it?

I think the letter above presents the Mayor’s view, which is consistent with the City of Mississauga view presented at the hearings (witch trail). It sounds as if she still believes that the ban is the wrong approach. Smart lady that she is.

Day one of the hearings:
http://www.ckc.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=148&NewsID=23

The City of Mississauga had their manager of Animal Services present. Their Mayor has noted that she feels this Bill as written is simply downloading a problem to the Municipalities. Their animal control manager noted the ineffectiveness of BSL in solving the problems of dog management; she referenced the excellent findings of the Courtney Trempe inquest and the lack of consistent implementation of those findings by the Province; she noted the severe financial impact of implementation of the Bill in a Municipal environment including greatly increased staff costs, liability cost increases, legal costs, etc. Mississauga offered solutions to the problem the Legislature is grappling with including mandatory microchipping of all dogs, implementation of the findings of the Trempe inquest, a minimum 3 year transition period to effect change and increasing of fines for dangerous dogs.

I was talking about Oakville(bordering with Mississauga) and I am sure we've had some incidents involving bad owners of pitties,but none I've heard of.

I was talking about Oakville(bordering with Mississauga) and I am sure we've had some incidents involving bad owners of pitties,but none I've heard of.

Opps I have to start reading a little more carefully.

I dunno...my friend that lives in Oakville says you Oakvillians are an animal loving race..

lol :D

Well,I don't know about the rest of the Oakvillonians,but I certainly am:D
Also,very seldom do I see a stray cat or dog,I found a little dog a few years back,but found the owner through the dog-tags.
Also our HS calls themselves a no-kill shelter,I've always trusted them to do the right thing and they have wonderful staff and volunteers.