Random Access

Geoff Kulawick was once nominated for a Juno Award for producing an album by the Canadian rap group TBTBT, which stands for Too Bad To Be True.
What just happened to the Mississauga music guru — brokering a deal that puts the iconic Canadian record label True North under his umbrella — could well be labelled Too Good To Be True. Kulawick already has his own independent Canadian record label and music promotion business, called Linus Entertainment label which he runs out of Mississauga.
The True North label, with the logo of the needle pointing to true magnetic north, is the ultimate acquisition for a true-blue homegrown music fan like Kulawick, who made his reputation in the music industry by having the best ears in the business.
The True North catalogue includes the bedrock of the Canadian musical pantheon with artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Colin Linden, Murray McLauchlan, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and David Wiffen.
Even when he was scrambling to make a name for himself in the tough music business way back at the beginning of his career, the Ottawa native always had trouble dealing with music, and acts, he didn't believe in strongly himself.
"I never liked promoting music I didn't love myself," Kulawick said Friday in an interview at his Mississauga home.
In his first stint as the creative guy at Warner/Chappell, he turned heads by developing and recording groups like The Tea Party, Spirit of the West, the Rheostatics and King Cobb Steelie.
He got to write his own ticket when he moved to Virgin/EMI in Mississauga, working only with artists he wanted to sign.
"Geoff's a song guy, and his instincts are very good," said former EMI Music Canada President Deane Cameron in a Billboard Magazine story in 1998. "He also sees the [global] picture."
Kulawick is not limited by category or style. He has discovered and signed everyone from rapper Choclair to Leahy to the Boomtang Boys to La Bottine Souriante. When the latter 15-piece group plays, led by a guy sitting on a chair, tapping out the beat on a board, "you hear how the music evolved from New Orleans to Québec."
Still "a song guy", Kulawick has a stack of CDs on his desk, waiting to receive his professional assessment. (This is what my in-box looks in my dreams, by the way.) Careers are riding on what he hears.
The interview stops while Kulawick plays a couple of things he is particularly excited about. One is a cut called Emily's Song from Church Bell Blues, the new album by Catherine MacLellan, daughter of Gene MacLellan (author of Snowbird, Put Your Hand in the Hand The Call etc.)
Then he plays a couple of cuts from a group called The John Henrys, who sound eerily like the lost Ottawa Valley cousins of Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers. He's transfixed as he listens. True North is about to reconfigure an earlier release of theirs and reissue it with new artwork and fine-tuning of some songs.
Then Kulawick clasps Downchild's Live at the Palais Royale (which may be the best-reviewed album in Canada this year) and raves about how the live performance is the absolute perfect thing to slap on during a big summer barbecue.
It's his job to find the artists and it's his job to get them the success they deserve, the soon-to-be-44-year-old says. "People will not discover great artists just because they exist."
Which brings us to getting air time and radio play and sets Kulawick off on a diatribe against the formulaic mediocrity of many radio formats. "There seems to be discrimination against Canadian artists," he says, "discrimination that you don't see at retail or among fans."
Despite the obstacles, Geoff Kulawick plans to soldier on, bringing the next generation of Bruce Cockburns and Ron Sexsmiths to public attention, no matter how long and twisting the road to acclaim.
They couldn't have a more passionate ally.

The impact of Oscar Peterson's music on people around the globe cannot be measured. But every media, music and jazz outlet in the world seems to be giving it the old college try.
The sheer number of tributes, and their deeply heartfelt nature, is astounding. And what people often remember most about Dr. Peterson is not just his prodigious talent, but his gentle personality.
If there are any stories of Oscar brushing off fans, I haven't heard of them. Of course, some of the obituaries dug up the old guff from the early critics who complained about his technique overwhelming his talent. And the derogatory comments made long ago by trumpeter Miles Davis.
Rob Vanstone, a reporter at the Regina Leader-Post and a huge Oscar fan, couldn't resist providing the defence argument. You can read it here:
www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/columnists/story.html?id=00ddb128-cb4f-43ea-a460-0bd45a5f327f
You can also read Rob's earlier column, in the wake of OP's death, about his personal experiences as a fan: www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/go/story.html?id=3fea1509-d810-457b-b499-773da61282af&p=2.
The side stories about Peterson's generosity and the devotion of fans are legendary. Mayor Hazel McCallion said last week, after her good friend died, when the mayor of Kariya, Japan, came to Mississauga last summer, there was only one thing he was really interested in doing — meeting our jazz legend. Unfortunately, Oscar wasn't available.
It is hard for us, on this side of the pond, to imagine how much of an idol Peterson was in jazz-mad Japan.
In another incident a few years ago, Oscar was visiting a hospital in Toronto just before his 80th birthday when he was approached by a Scarborough resident, also 80, who was absolutely infatuated with him. She told him that a large group of people who were all about to celebrate their 80th were coming from across Canada to the Japanese Cultural Centre in Scarborough. She asked Oscar if he’d come and perform. He said maybe. Never was anybody ever happier with a maybe.
What other superstar would have even considered it?
By the way, the Peterson tribute concert being put on next Saturday afternoon at Roy Thomson Hall, where the pianist gave his Hazel's Hope concert Nov. 20, 2005, is being broadcast on radio, in case you are unwilling, or unable, to line up for the 2,300 rush seats.
It will be carried live at 4 p.m. on CBC Radio One (99.1) and 8 p.m. the same evening on Radio Two (94.1)
One of the featured performers will be Measha Brueggergosman, who lived in Mississauga while studying at the University of Toronto. She is one of the few people who have the pipes to do justice to Peterson's homage to civil rights and Dr. Nelson Mandela titled Hymn To Freedom. Let's hope she sings it. (Jackie Richardson does a wonderful version.)
It was interesting to see Toronto Star entertainment writer Martin Knelman, a long-time Oscar watcher, call for a sculpture to be erected, perhaps outside Massey Hall, in honour of Peterson. Something quirky, perhaps, like the Glenn Gould bench outside the CBC, Knelman suggested.
Good idea, wrong venue. Since we are embarking on a placemaking exercise to enliven our too-often moribund city centre, how about a beautiful commissioned Oscar statue to stand brighten up the concrete square wasteland in front of the Mississauga Civic Centre?
Or more appropriately yet, in front of the Living Arts Centre where the extraordinary tribute concert to Peterson, with him providing the musical coup de grâce with his old buddy Clark Terry, was held place Sept. 10, 2003.

When you look at those beseeching eyes, so anxious to please, you look into the conundrum of banning animals by breed.
The story of Gabriela Nowakowska and Rambo (owner of the ever-so-sad stare above) is the tale of two innocents, at least to hear Gabriela tell it.
Nowakowska, a Mississaugan all her life, is 20-years-old. She bought Rambo, who is 10-months-old, at a flea market last year.
It was only when Rambo was let out into the backyard of her east Mississauga home on Christmas Day, then escaped through an open door and was captured by Mississauga Animal Control that Nowakowska started to do a lot of growing up.
She received a letter from the City, saying the dog she had come to love would be destroyed if she couldn't prove it wasn't a pitbull.
With the animal control office closed several days over the holidays and people on vacation, Nowakowksa made numerous trips by bus from her home near Queen Frederica Dr. and Dundas St. E. to plead for the life of her puppy, whom she knows only as a friendly, loving dog.
Because of Ontario's legislation to ban pit bulls, brought in after several well-publicized attacks and fatalities caused by some of the breed, Nowakowska is in danger of having her dog executed, especially since he exhibits the characteristic look like the breed.
Her public appeal for help has brought a flood of responses from animal lovers, who think Ontario rushed to judgement in passing the law.
"We are supposed to be the guardians of all of those that cannot speak for themselves," e-mails Shelley Wickabrod. "Our ridiculous laws that allow the death of a beautiful and harmless ten-month-old pup reflects that we have become a vicious and inhumane culture. Destroying something because it looks like something... is tantamount to legislating the death of all children born who do not look like what we think they should look like."
Bruce Noakes, a 20-year Mississauga resident, was so upset he marched into the animal control office this morning and pleaded Rambo's case. "Have we not learned anything from the Michael Vick debacle?" Noakes says. "Did this lady feed her dog gunpowder and steroids, did she beat him unmercifully? I think not."
Carla Costa, a level-headed animal welfare leader, who works with the Mississauga Humane Society, says Bill 132 is unclear and vague. "Punish the deed, not the breed," she says.
Defining a pit bull, which is a generic handle and not the name of a specific breed, is a mug's game. Veterinarians can't do it in many cases, so how are owners and animal control officials to know?
If a dog has been bred to fight, then there is clearly a public danger. "If they have been trained to kill, then I would never take the chance," says Costa. "Once they are 'clicked on' for fighting, then there's nothing you can do."
But there must be a distinction made for dogs which are family pets, and many of them excellent ones, who are well-trained and pose no danger to anyone but those who hate having their faces licked.
The law is now largely up to the discretion of enforcement officials. Some municipalities, such as Toronto and Oakville, says Costa, are much more lenient in interpretation than others like Mississauga. Here most pit bull look-a-likes are put down.
If pit bulls could actually be legislated out of the picture, then the Michael Vicks of this world would simply find other breeds to train to kill.
Gabriela is certainly not innocent in all this. An informed person does not buy a dog at a flea market (shouldn't we be investigating who is selling them and pursue them?) Her dog was unlicensed and was not fixed.
She has already been to her vet, made arrangements to have the unfortunately-named Rambo neutered and has prepaid for the services — all of which she has told animal control officials.
"With anything that is the law, there will always be shades of grey," says Costa, an Erindale Woodlands resident. "Municipalities have to use their discretion. This girl loves this dog to death."
Somehow I don't think this legislation was intended to take the life of a loose-limbed puppy whose owner seems to be guilty of not much more than naiveté and loving her pet beyond reason.

Where are we going to get the 10 lb. bags of silver skin onions for making sweet pickles now?
Have to admit that was my first selfish reaction when Tony Simeone (above) told me a few weeks ago that an institution in the west end of the city, the Credit Valley Fruit Market, on Dundas St. W. near Credit Woodlands, would be closing its doors.
The official end is going to come sometime later this week — Sunday at the latest — but it has been on the horizon for some time.
Every Friday afternoon on my way home from work, my car would automatically pull into the plaza and a selection of fresh fruits and veggies, most of which Tony had hand-picked at the Ontario Food Terminal earlier that morning, would be purchased for the weekend.
In the spring, there was a garden centre with the fresh herbs that Tony's father, Domenic, grew in the gardens on the family properties next door to the plaza. In the fall, there were big, fat pumpkins and, at Christmas, beautiful Nova Scotia balsam firs to be dragged home and decorated.
If you went in there often enough, you could meet every member of the Simeone family. That would include the patriarch and matriarch, Domenic and Signora, Tony and his siblings Bruno, Lucy and Marisa. The grandchildren were often on hand too.
Credit Valley was a ready source of part-time work for several generations of local high school students.
Domenic and his wife Signora, both 78 now, came to Canada from the province of Latina, Italy in 1959. Domenic brought some Oxheart tomato seeds with him on the trip, seeds that result in tomatoes that are heart-shaped and as sweet as your favourite Valentine. He still grows and sells them, along with his famous melt-in-your-mouth butter beans.
Domenic worked 16-hour days in construction, then went into the plastering business. "I never collected one cent of unemployment insurance," he says proudly. "I like to work hard."
Just over 25 years ago, the family leased a spot on the south side of Dundas St. W. Things went so well that they bought the land behind and built the Credit Valley Plaza, then became its anchor tenant in 1986.
Things were good for a long time, but in retailing, everything changes. People got busier and busier and the younger generations wasn't as interested in making their own tomato sauces and canning peaches.
People used to come to the Dominion store in Westdale Mall for food, then go across to Credit Valley for their produce. When the Credit Landing Loblaws opened on the old Cooksville brick yard, people could get everything they wanted there. It didn't help when Dundas St. was widened and it was a lot harder to get out of the plaza.
Pretty soon, everyone was selling everything, including the big chains who can engage in cut-throat pricing that a family business can ill afford. "It's tough when Home Depot starts selling Christmas trees," says Tony.
They changed with the times. Signora made special chile sauces and pickled anything that stopped moving long enough. They began selling lunches and prepared foods, homemade loaves and even their own energy bars.
"That would have given us a niche we thought we could hold onto and it worked... to some extent," says Tony.
But ultimately, they could not compete. The decision to close was really made last year when the plaza was sold and the Simeones became tenants again.
Now the family is negotiating for a new space near Clappison's Corners in Waterdown. "It's a new beginning and we're all very excited about it. But leaving — it's mixed emotions. We had some good times here and some rough times," says the 54-year-old Tony.
Signora doesn't even want to talk about it. Even posing for a photograph is hard.
Kirk Farrell, who does business with the store, watches ruefully as a farewell photo is being taken.
"There's no personalized businesses anymore," he says. "It's all bottom line — bottom line for everybody," says Farrell. "You find the same stores in every mall, the same stores in every plaza."
Tony is asked if there was any kind of business philosophy that Credit Valley followed, besides work round-the-clock for less-than-minimum wage.
"Well, not really," he replies. "You have got to have your heart in it. You have to roll out the red carpet and hope they keep supporting it."
They rolled out the red carpet every time, but not enough people stepped up to support it.

You know all those newspaper stories that appear this time of year with a forward-looking bent that purport to tell you what's likely to happen in the coming year?
Forget those stories.
They're always wrong and, even if they're not wrong, nobody except the nerds who cuts out the clipping to wave in your face at some future point can even remember what was predicted in the first place.
Much easier just to prognosticate on the unlikely side — tell people about what they definitely won't have to deal with in the coming year. That way they can eliminate the stress of considering the myriad of possible ramifications.
So, here are a few things that you definitely won't have to worry about seeing in 2008:

• Mayor Hazel McCallion announcing her retirement.

• Tim Peterson switching parties and/or crossing the floor.

• Enersource Hydro Mississauga holding a tag day for its board of directors.

• Wajid Khan releasing his report on the findings of his Mid-East trip.

• Antonio Batista sending Pat Saito a Christmas poem in rhyme.

• Hydro One voluntarily saving trees in its rights-of-way through Mississauga.

• Stephen Harper deciding to give Cabinet ministers more autonomy.

• George Bush getting re-elected.

• Paul Szabo losing his title as the most talkative MP in Parliament.

• Bob Delaney opting not to sue anyone for questioning his integrity.

• Carolyn Parrish apologizing for something she thought, but didn't say out loud.

• Don Cherry apologizing for anything.

A belated Happy 2008, no matter what happens.

"Let's say farewell with a sigh... not goodbye."
Nancy Wilson's heartfelt rendering of the Gordon Jenkins classic, Goodbye, one of the underclass of songs that should have been standards but never quite made it, was one of the superb highlights of a moving concert Saturday afternoon for the late Dr. Oscar Peterson.
When these things are set up, there is an expectation that a speedily planned and executed tribute will necessarily be a little disappointing.
Not so in this case.
And the reason became clear shortly after proceedings began: each and every participant, from host Valerie Pringle to the singers, players and just the talkers (Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Bob Rae and Governor General Michaël Jean) had a personal relationships with the brilliant late pianist. They spoke and played with the deep conviction stemming from that personal admiration and love for him.
The Governor-General spoke of how, as an immigrant child of not-well-off parents living in the same neighbourhood of Montreal where Peterson grew up, she learned of his shining example of how to conduct oneself.
In a taped message, Stevie Wonder could not contain the sense of joy he got from meeting OP and talking to him for two hours. The pair planned an album where Oscar would play and Stevie would sing standards. "He told me it would be a magical time," said Wonder in his inimitable breathless run-on sentence of a speech. He stood in awe of "someone that everyone knows as the world's greatest pianist," said Wonder. He said he could still, "feel every single chord and emotion he shared with us."
Quincy Jones rambled, but in his own amiable way got around to the key points eventually. He remembered hearing the rumours around Jazz At The Philharmonic that Norman Granz had discovered some whiz kid from Canada who "drank nitroglycerin and chewed gunpowder. We found out that the stories were true," he laughed.
"He raised the bar and set the standards," the multi-Grammy, multi-Oscar winning bandleader said. "The rest of us are lucky if we catch up with 10 per cent of what Oscar was as a human being, and a musician."
His daughter Celine implied the enormity of their personal loss with remembrances of family life: Oscar feeding the three dogs peanut butter and teasing Celine as fathers will good-naturedly do. She and her mother before her, at the IAJE Jazz masters concert the night before spoke of his love of shiny new cameras and his thrill in receiving every new award.
Then, there were the special dinners shared in their Mississauga home with Bob and Arlene Rae, Roy and Ria McMurtry, Bill and Kathleen Davis, all of whom shared a passion for human rights with OP.
Celine explained that, with that special intuition that animals often exhibit, it was the family's youngest dog Smedley — who bore the nickname that Oscar always used for Granz, his mentor and friend of 52 years — who told finally the family that Oscar would play no more. The dog jumped up on his bed the day he died and remained there all day.
The music was as eloquent as the speakers. On Friday night, Oscar's old buddies Oliver Jones and David Young took a nice turn on Hymn To Freedom. It began slow and dirge-like, with a nice gospel feel and then turned into the inimitable swing in mid-stream that is Peterson's defining style.
The same ode to civil rights was used as the closing of the CBC concert Sunday too, this time with soprano Measha Brueggergosman raising the rafters. Her vocal instrument (it's more than a voice) is astounding and almost other-worldly.
After it first appeared on his 1962 album Night Train, Harriette Hamilton wrote stirring lyrics to Peterson's majestic melody of Hymn to Freedom. "When every heart meets every heart and together yearns for liberty, that's when we'll be free," it begins.
As was evident from the long lines outside Roy Thomson Hall and the tears and love that flowed inside it, whenever Oscar Peterson was involved, a lot of hearts met other hearts and shared their love of liberty, music and humanity.

Rambo the (maybe) pitbull and his owner, Gabriela Nowakowska are rapidly turning into the poster people for what is wrong with Ontario's legislation aimed at eradicating the breed from the Province.
You can see why this case would be a lightning rod for critics of Bill 132, the legislation crafted by Michael (Dalton-in-waiting) Bryant in the wake of several nasty dog attacks in Ontario.
Rambo is between five and 10-months-old puppy and is clearly NOT a purebred American Staffordshire Terrier because he doesn't have the giveaway black nose for the job, according to the people who know.
He's your everyday, mutt-like cross who schleps around home and loves his owner Gabriela, who says she picked him up at a flea market earlier this year.
Gabriela is clearly not the pitbull-breeding, dog-fighting nefarious character at whom one might assume the legislation was aimed.
She is a rather naive 20-year-old girl who, believe it or not, knew nothing of the pit bull controversy when she got the dog, and didn't get him fixed when she acquired him because was told he was too young.
Since Rambo was caught on Christmas Day ("It was the worst Christmas ever," says Gabriela) she has been forced to do a lot of growing up.
She's already laid down the cash for Rambo to be fixed if she can ever get him out of the pound.
And she is beginning, with the assistance of the sage advice of some experienced local animal welfare groups, to really grasp the situation.
In the eyes of the law, the fact that Rambo is an innocent little puppy is irrelevant. So is the fact that he is not a full-bred pitbull.
In fact, there is no such thing as a pitbull breed per se, which is one of the reasons parts of the law were struck down by the courts.
What's left is a law standing on three legs and not providing much relief to anyone.
If the intent is to eradicate the breed, then the effect in this case is simply to take away a young woman's best friend — clearly a lover not a killer — and execute him.
The law should obviously have been aimed at dogs who have been trained to kill, no matter what they breed. Those dogs can, unfortunately, not be trusted around children and must be put down.
But Rambo and Gabriela? If your law catches this kind of victim, it's not working.
The City of Mississauga's animal control department is caught in the middle of all this, enforcing legislation that it told the government it didn't want and believed would not work.
Those reservations are now being borne out.
Gabriela has decided to fight, even though she can't really afford it. She is appealing to the public for funds (Account number 06246273559, transit number 13402 for TD Branch 004.)
She faces a long, uphill fight.
Her lawyer may make an attempt to "get bail" so to speak, for her dog, while the court challenge is launched. But, if not, Rambo faces many long days in a cage at the animal control building on Central Pkwy. W., something which is definitely not fair to him.
Gabriela also faces the possibility that she may lose the case but still save Rambo's life by allowing him to be placed with an animal rescue group from outside Ontario.
That's not her first choice, of course, but it would be a lot better alternative than having him put down.

P.S. For another take on this case, visit Selma Mulvey's post today at http://caveat.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/1/15/3466073.html

The world's biggest snow globe is coming to Mississauga City Hall.
You remember those little plastic globes that you used to get at Christmas, filled with pastoral winter scenes and fluttering, fake snow that you activated by turning the globe upside down?
Well, Ontario's Tourism Ministry surely remembered and they capitalized on the notion last year by creating a touring infomercial in the form of a 20-ft. diameter, two-storey high globe that appears at municipal community events to promote tourism in the Province.
The giant snow globe features live actors under the bubble who demonstrate typical winter activities such as snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and sitting at an outdoor café, sipping Niagara ice wine (Kittling Ridge Forty Creek Canadian whiskey seems like a much wiser choice to ward off the cold.)
The globe was just in New York and was a bit hit with local bloggers. "What a great concept. This globe is marketing genius," gushed Jamie Rhein at www.gadling.com.
The globe even got some TV time on Good Morning America when it was ensconced in New York's Bryant Park last month.
The globe will be one of the key attractions at the upcoming My Mississauga WinterWorld event, a new two-day gathering aimed at families that hopes to attract crowds to the civic square in February, as the musical concerts there have done in the past two summers.
Nicole Mora, MyMississauga coordinator, says the winter gathering for families and kids was added to the current activities (the tree-lighting ceremony, New Year's Eve and New Year's levee event) in response to resident requests.
On Sat. Feb. 9, from 5-9 p.m., there will be a live DJ to skating. On Sunday, from 1-5 p.m. there will be loads of children's activities, with an international flavour to the event, featuring a variety of food vendors.
The local stop, which happens to be in the riding of new Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca, is one of six in the province this winter.
Obvious question: If you plunk a giant snow globe down on the civic square, does it mean citizens will demand a shake-up at City Hall?
• • •
Funny how former Mississauga City councillors keep turning up in odd places in the news.
A story in today's Simcoe Reformer tells us that former Ward 9 Councillor Ted Southorn has a new job: as a greeter at the new Wal-Mart in the southwestern Ontario town.
"Southorn, one of four greeters at the store, says he has enough money he doesn’t have to work but came to Wal-Mart because he wants to remain active with people," says the story. "'You can only read so many books in a day," he says.
Ted hasn't lost his sardonic edge either. "This is my comeback," jokes Ted Southorn, a retired salesman and four-time city councillor from Mississauga who moved to Simcoe with his wife a few years ago. "Next week, I will be president. They have a very fast career path here."
• • •
If you enjoy female jazz singers, as I do, then the Oscar Peterson Tribute Concert on Valentine's Day is shaping up remarkably well.
Bill King and Ron Duquette added Molly Johnson to the lineup today. A wonderful singer, with a laconic style who can swing or sway with a ballad, Johnson is a huge star in France but not as well known in Canada as she should be.
In his review of the Oscar: Simply The Best concert at Roy Thomson Hall Sunday, Toronto Star entertainment writer Martin Knelman criticized the "glaring omission" of not including Johnson, who was sitting in the guest section. That prompted the proactive Duquette to call her up and add her to a powerhouse lineup that already features up-and-coming Sophie Milman, supple and swinging Port Credit singer Carol McCartney and Mississauga native Shannon Butcher, whose first CD will be out later this year.
Oscar, of course, was a more-than-fair singer himself. Maybe that's what made him such a brilliant accompanist to the likes of Audrey Morris, Anita O'Day and the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald.
Tickets, $40 and $30, go on sale at LAC next Monday.

It was only a matter of time until the case of Rambo, the alleged pitbull on death row at Mississauga's Animal Control Centre, came onto City council's political radar.
Since The News began writing stories about the sad case of Gabriela Nowakowska and her 10-month-old cross-bred dog, the case has been latched onto by the myriad of animal welfare groups across Ontario who are always looking for more kindling to throw on the funeral pyre on which they would like to sacrifice Bill 132. That's the muddy piece of legislation, still under appeal, that already has had a couple of its key legs (including the definition of a pitbull) pulled out from under it by the courts.
At Wednesday's general committee meeting councillors, who are being inundated with comments from residents far and near, weighed into the fray. (They have been on their holiday break for a while.)
There are several dog-lovers on council, including Pat Saito who competes in dog sport competitions at a very high level, Mayor Hazel McCallion (owner of the late, lamented German Shepherd named 'Hurricane') and Carolyn Parrish, who owns a young bulldog named Charlotte.
They quizzed their staff on the issue with the same clear intent: how do we make sure that Rambo does not become a martyr to the cause?
No one, including the animal control officials and administrators who are charged with enforcing the flawed law, want to see Rambo put down.
In a letter to a local resident, Mississauga Director of Enforcement Elaine Buckstein noted that, "no one involved with this matter, including staff
is happy about this. Once passed into law the City of Mississauga must enforce the law as it is written. Failure to do so would result in serious liability issues
should one of the dogs in question seriously injure a resident. Regardless of our feelings toward this legislation, staff are expected to do their duty as spelled out in the law. This process cannot be administered on an emotional basis regardless of how difficult this may seem."
The City politicians would like to make the whole thing go away by shipping the dog to a reputable rescue organization outside Ontario.
The problem is that staff say the option of rescue is not on their menu at the moment because Gabriela still owns the dog and it is a prohibited animal, since it was born after Nov. 30, 2005.
So this is where the politicians come in. Saito and Parrish have both done their puppy homework and report that by all accounts of animal control staff, Rambo is not a problem. "I'm told he's really a sweet dog and everyone at animal control plays with him. He's just a darling," says Parrish.
"It is unacceptable that there are so few options for a puppy like Rambo," says Saito. "We should have more options than just to put the dog down."
But the City is generally in the business of enforcing laws, not skirting them, and whatever it does, council has to be careful that if there is a dog that is dangerous in future, they don't set a precedent which they will regret, says Saito.
Parrish (or Our Lady of the Fireworks as she is known at Random Access) has a slightly off-the-wall proposal to deal with the situation: neuter the dog and approve a 24-hour exemption for Rambo so you can ship him out to a pitbull rescue group. "There has got to be a humane set of rules put in place when the law is an ass," she ways, with her usual colour and candour.
If that doesn't work, the man who quarterbacked the legislation through Queen's Park, Michael Bryant, "should have to put on gloves and come out here and use the hypodermic," says the Ward 6 councillor.
While the politicians figure out how to make the best of an impossible situation, the really difficult decision still lies in the hands of Gabriela, who was officially charged with having a prohibited animal yesterday and ordered to appear in court Feb. 29.
She now has the cash in hand to retain a lawyer and fight the charge that Rambo is a prohibited pit bull. She is hopeful that the courts will provide "bail" for the dog while the case is decided.
That seems highly unlikely, as desirable as it may seem. Which would leave her with the choice of leaving her beloved pet in a cage for months on end until the court proceedings are finished or — if the City councillors have their way — saving Rambo's life by shipping him outside of Ontario to a new home and owner. Talk about a Hobson's choice.

P.S. A report about Rambo is scheduled to run tonight on the 6 p.m. Global News supper newscast.

The description of a leading Mississauga senior citizen of great character and longevity sounded awfully familiar: unselfish, feisty, "ready to take on any battle," and "someone who's made a real difference in the community."
But this time, it was Mayor Hazel McCallion dishing out those words, not on the receiving end of them.
McCallion was among a great number of family and friends who visited Roy Clifton's Snug Harbour Restaurant yesterday afternoon to recognize the remarkable mark that Dorothy Jamieson, who celebrates her 90th birthday today, has made on the city.
"She has made a major contribution to her country and the world," said McCallion, a long-time friend of Jamieson, a World War II vet who has made a habit of breaking the mould.
When Winston Churchill came to inspect the Fighter Control Operations tower that she ran with typical efficiency during World War II, it was Dorothy who Sir Winston chose to guide the tour. He is one of her two all-time heroes (the other is Franklin Roosevelt.)
When she marred Ronald Jamieson and came to Canada after six years in the RAF, they settled in Mississauga to raise a family.
When her daughter Pat became interested in canoeing, Jamieson got interested in the Mississauga Canoe Club. She jumped in with both feet and went on to become its first female commodore, the first woman on the executive of the Canadian Canoe Association and the first-ever female timer at an Olympic Games, in Montreal in 1976.
Among those honouring Dorothy yesterday were Port Credit-born Jim Reardon, one of seven Mississaugans to compete in the 1972 Munich Games and Larry Cain of Oakville, whom Reardon coached and launched on a career that saw him win gold and silver medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Over the years, Jamieson has gone to war to fight many battles with the same characteristic zeal. When her long-time employer Johns-Manville stiffed thousands of Canadians out of their rightful pensions, it was Dorothy who led the 13-year legal and political fight to get their money back, which she did.
One of the other of many causes she has adopted over the years: getting appropriate pension benefits for British expatriates of the war like herself who are stuck on fixed rates. By the time she wins that fight, she might be the last one alive to collect it, joked McCallion.
Other pet Dorothy causes include getting a memorial in Britain to recognize the outstanding contribution of women to the war effort (now done) and getting recognition for the hundreds of war brides who came to this country.
"When Dorothy gets behind something, all she needs is your support," said the mayor.
Jamieson is nothing if not well-connected. She's a regular guest on CFRB (broadcaster John Moore was there yesterday to speak) and is a fixture on Rogers Community Television. Every year she makes a big impact on the students at Fairwind Public School at their annual Remembrance Day ceremony.
Her good friend, Ward 1 Councillor Carmen Corbasson remarked yesterday that "I haven't met a good many of the people in this room, but I bet I've heard all of your names," a reference to Dorothy's world-class chatting and networking skills.
Maybe that's where her nephew, CBC's Peter Mansbridge, gets his nose for news.
There is a soft side to Jamieson though. Her niece Wendy Gunn (above with Dorothy) said she may be famous for pointing sharp objects at officialdom outside the family but she's famous for crossing sharp objects within it.
"She knits the most wonderful sweaters for everyone in the family in between the battles," Gunn said. "I don't know where she finds the time, but she is our champion sweater-maker."

Every doggy story has its day.
Today, Ronin (shown above in photograph by Sabrina Byrnes) is in the spotlight. Or, rather, his human Jazmine Humble, aged eight, who's applying the mega-hug.
Jazmine loves animals, especially dogs.
Even though, in May 2005 explains her mother, she "had her face ripped apart" by a neighbour's dog. The little girl was bitten by a small Cocker Spaniel who was getting elderly. The dog's owners had it put down after the incident.
Jazmine basically went into shock after having her lip split in two. She doesn't remember much about the trip to the hospital or the surgery, which was successful and left her with only a scar. She doesn't talk about it much.
What she does want to talk about is Gabriela Nowakowska and her dog Rambo, who Jazmine read about in The Mississauga News. She recognized Gabriela from her picture in the paper. The 20-year-old works at the deli where the family sometimes shops.
"She fell in love with Gabriela's voice and thought she was really pretty," says her Mom.
So when she saw that Gabriela's dog had been rounded up by the puppy police, the little girl pledged to do everything she could to help Gabriela get Rambo back. She started a petition to "Free Rambo" which Gabriela says was one of the first, and most heartening, signs of support she's received.
Cuddly sidebars apart, Rambo's situation remains precarious.
Mayor Hazel McCallion told me on the weekend, in no uncertain terms as she is wont to do, that there should be no concessions for the dog. "I don't know how anybody could acquire a dog that young with all of the publicity there was about these animals. Everyone knows they're banned," she said.
"We're going to follow the rules," she added. "This is Provincial legislation and we're not going to ignore the legislative authority of the Province. When it's law, it's law."
McCallion is not impressed with the campaign mounted on Rambo's behalf by animal supporters who have bombarded the politicians and staff with e-mails. "You can't imagine the cost of this," she said, "and the staff time. Where were all these people when the law was being proposed?"
Many of them were imploring the Province not to pass it and being ignored for their efforts but that's another story.
"There's rules to follow," added the mayor. "Some people seem to go against the rules."
Not all City politicians are being so rigid in their interpretation. Councillor Carolyn Parrish, for one, wonders why animal control departments in other neighbouring municipalities tend to be much more liberal in their interpretation of the pitbull legislation.
She suggests City staff could have observed Rambo for a couple of weeks, seen that he was a young mutt whom no one need fear, ordered Gabriela to get him neutered and put a muzzle on him and handed him back to her with no harm done.
To bring everyone up to date, Gabriela is still struggling to raise the funds needed to hire a lawyer. She had a setback in setting up a trust account for fundraising because she needed co-signers and she is still in the process of setting up an e-mail account (she doesn't have a computer) so the many people interested in this case can communicate with her.
And she insists that she really did not know about the pitbull legislation when she bought the dog.
Meanwhile, her lawyer has told her not to talk to the media for the moment.
And, as people in all corners of this argument have noted, young Rambo continues to spend most of his time languishing in a cage.

In response to numerous requests, here is the updated information about how people can donate to the Rambo defence fund set up by Gabriela Nowakowska.
The transit number is 13402. The institution number for TD Bank on Dundas St. E. is 004. The account number is 6273559.

Are you ready to Rambo Rumble?
Councillor Carolyn Parrish apparently is.
Gabriella Nowakowska was in desperate need of a champion to publicly carry the ball for Rambo, her alleged pitbull, and it appears she's found one in the person of the no-doubt-about-it pitbull from Ward 6.
But wait a second. There's another pitbull in the ring in the person of the elder stateswoman of octogenarian attack politics, Mayor Hazel McCallion.
And she's firmly in the opposing corner, defending a law she doesn't agree with.
The City, of course, has to be careful about encouraging exceptions to any laws, since it is in the business of expecting its citizens to follow its own approved bylaws.
When municipalities and legislatures pass laws that raise serious ethical problems for citizens, the question arises: whether it is better to observe and enforce, the letter or the spirit of the provision.
In the case of the Dog Owners' Liability Act, how can you one have a lot of certainty about a law that bans animals who have a "substantially similar" appearance to a American Staffordshire, Staffordshire bull, pitbull terrier or American pitbull terrier?"
What does "substantially similar" mean and who gets to rule on such a nebulous concept?
Why is it that some municipalities are working with local humane groups to move prohibited animals under Bill 132 to other provinces or states and others are not?
Is it possible that the same dog could be deemed "substantially similar" in one city and not the neighbouring one?
How much discretion do local animal control centres have in interpreting the law?
Ms. Parrish has suggested that, if we rolled back the clock until this all began, the City's animal control centre could have held onto Rambo for a couple of weeks, satisfied themselves that he is the harmless puppy Gabriela insists he is, forced her to have the dog neutered (which she has already agreed to do and paid for) and fitted him with a muzzle and sent him home in peace.
Monday morning quarterbacks are legion, of course. You can be sure that Mississauga animal control officers do not want to be the ones appointing themselves the interpreters of this law, and you can bet that no one who works there there really wants to put this dog down.
Unfortunately, the paranoid risk management fetishists who seem to run the corporate world these days would have us believe that straying an inch from the letter of any law is a heinous crime that will be punishable by multi-million dollar law suits. Municipal staff get the message and are reminded frequently of the narrow scope of their discretionary powers.
It is suggested in this case that the City's hands were tied.
The fact remains, however, that if this dog had slightly different facial features or, if the right official had decided at the right moment that this dog was not "substantially similar" to the outlawed breed, or if he was caught in another municipality that looks to ship dogs out-of-province first before considering putting them down, Rambo would not be in this pickle.

When she was working the Black Knight room in the basement of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto two decades ago, Carol McCartney used to sneak upstairs between sets and catch the main acts in the Imperial Room, with the assistance of another Mississaugan, maître 'd Louis Jannetta.
She saw Rita Moreno, Lola Falana and Miss Peggy Lee among others.
Monday night, McCartney — the under-appreciated jazz singer from Port Credit whose A Night in Tunisia CD is one of the best jazz releases of the year — was one of three singers who paid tribute to Lee as part of JAZZ.FM91's annual concert series.
One of the songs McCartney did was the gorgeous Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein ballad The Folks Who Live on The Hill.
As McCartney pointed out in her introduction to the song, Lee's life wasn't anything like those of the protagonists of the song, who watch events unfold slowly and leisurely over the years from their perch in the middle of town.
Lee led a tough life, from watching her house burn down at five-years-old (as she references in her autobiographical song Is That All There Is?) to four marriages and a ton of health problems.
One of Lee's favourite writers was Ralph Waldo Emerson. She was fond of quoting his line: "God will not have his work done by cowards." She translated that into, "don't let your personal problems get in the way of your life's work."
Paying tribute to a singer like Lee is a tricky business because of her signature style. As McCartney said "she really had a way with a lyric and a melody." Lee combined an incredibly rhythmic style with a sexy purr of a voice.
She started singing more quietly in clubs in her early days so people would stop yapping and listen to her (still a major problem for all musicians) and it became a signature sound.
Lee was incredibly talented, co-writing several standards such as It's a Good Day, There'll Be Another Spring and I Don't Know Enough About You, acting in movies and even earning an Academy Award nomination for her role as an alcoholic singer in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955.)
She is best known, of course, for batting her phony eyelashes at you while wearing a long, shiny, slithery form-fitting satin dress and purring Mae West-type innuendoes as she undersings hot numbers like Hey, Big Spender or Fever.
The latter signature Lee number was what McCartney, Kinga and Irene Atman finished their very satisfying concert with Monday night at The Old Mill. Of course, there are always quibbles. Would have loved to hear Black Coffee (another Lee composition) but all in all, it was very Peggy and very nice.
The backing trio was in absolutely fine form, with the sizzling Robi Botos on piano (who played the Oscar Peterson Public School tribute last year) his brother Frank on drums and Mississauga's own rock of rhythm, Kieran Overs, on bass.
By the way, Kieran's wife Nancy Walker produced one of the country's best albums this year, according to Canada's jazz magazine CODA. On his list, critic Len Dobbin cited her Need Another CD as one of the top 10 in the country for 2007.
Mississaugans have an upcoming rare chance to see both Walker and McCartney on the same night in their own backyard as part of the outstanding lineup at the Feelings From the Heart Oscar Peterson tribute at the Living Arts Centre Valentine's Day. Peterson's daughter Celine, will speak on behalf of the family.

After he spent two days working with the students at Oscar Peterson Public School last week, Mississauga poet Peter Jailall exclaimed, "this is a school that's got rhythm." Just like its namesake.
Jailall is a retired Peel elementary school teacher who visits schools periodically passing his passion for poetry on to a new generation.
He invited me to come along while he worked with students at OP Public.
Once a classroom teacher, always a classroom teacher.
Jailall had written a new poem for the late jazz master for the occasion, to make this learning opportunity a memorable one for them. And, like a certain famous pianist, he had his audience firmly grasped in his hands from his first note... er sentence.
He had them clap to its cadence, recite its rolling rhythm and bop to its beat — and he didn't need much help because the special music curriculum that Principal Caroline Mochrie and her staff have installed at Peterson makes such exercises an everyday occurrence.
Jailall painstakingly explained how his first draft of every poem is just a place to start and how his editors and publishers want to see his work polished, reworked and polished some more.
It's a message that teacher-librarian Jacqueline Springer says can't be repeated enough for students.
"It's always wonderful to have someone else come in and reinforce the message," says Springer. "The editing process is so difficult for them. They don't like to do the rewriting."
As if anyone does.
The kids not only understood a little more about who Oscar Peterson was after Jailall's talk and his poem, but they could see the impression that Oscar's character had made on those who followed. That legacy is just as much about the kind of man he was, as the kind of musician he was.
Here's Peter's poem:

For Oscar E. Peterson

At Christmas ‘07
When we sang
“O come, O come Emanuel”
Our own dear Emanuel went away
This son of a railway porter
This tunesmith, jazz-piano man
Leaving an empty spot
In our collective heart

He came from Montreal to Mississauga
With a twinkle in his eye
And a sweet, kind smile
On his tender face
Even though he suffered ridicule
Just because of his race

One patron refused to shake his hand
One barber refused to cut his hair
He stayed in segregated hotels
In the US-South
Yet, he hired a white guitarist
For which he was severely criticized
And he gently played on
Gently plucking the black and white keys of his life

He will never smile again
But he has left a million smiles behind
He will never sing again
But he has left so many songs
Imprinted on so many hearts
He will never play again
But he has left so many notes
For us to play

The whole world sang with him
While we in Mississauga
Embraced him with joyful pride
His memory remains with us
On a postage stamp
On a street
On a plaque
And on a school
We will always remember
Our dear Oscar.

The old Confederation Square building in Cooksville, the site of the municipal offices for the Township of Toronto and then for the Town of Mississauga for nearly a century, will soon meet the wrecker's ball.
Mississauga's Heritage Advisory Committee (HAC) recently reviewed a report on the 1953 building that still stands on the site, at 100 Dundas St. W., on the south side of the old Dundas highway, just to the east of the former Mississauga Central Library and Confederation Pkwy.
Because the building was placed on the City's heritage inventory, the owners of the property who plan to redevelop it, were required to commission a report on the site. It was completed by heritage planner Wayne Morgan.
The report provides a telling glimpse into the history of a building and a community. The structure was described in The Port Credit Weekly Apr. 23, 1953 as the "swank new municipal hall," built for a cost of about $220,000 and designed in the International style by architect Gordon Adamson.
Adamson also designed such GTA landmarks as the Redpath Sugar building on Queen's Quay, the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (now the Sony Centre) on Front St. E., Kipling Collegiate and the E.J. Pratt and Northrup Frye Hall at Victoria College, U of T.
The land came into public ownership in 1872 when the township bought two acres of property from Jacob Cook, for whom Cooksville is named, for the princely sum of $5.
A small township hall was erected the following year. A major addition took place in front of that building in 1953 and a huge crowd showed up for the unveiling of the "modern office building" June 2 that year.
The Confederation Square building's fate as a town hall was sealed in 1969, when a fire destroyed a good part of it. That's when a bright young local developer named Bruce McLaughlin invited town councillors to move their headquarters up to the wilderness of Burnhamthorpe Rd. and Hurontario St.
He would build a new City Hall just for them (at what is now the CIBC building at 1 City Centre Dr.) and, oh, by the way, he was constructing a new shopping mall that would be symbolically named Square One just beside it.
In a decision that remains controversial to this day, politicians forsook the historical heart of the city for Bruce's bucolic backyard.
"I remember a lot of the councillors saying, 'oh, what a stupid man,'" former Mayor Ron Searle said this morning. "'It's nothing but countryside.' All he was doing was showing his foresight."
Searle was a municipal politician from 1962 to 1978 when he lost to Hazel McCallion. In that time, he served on the councils of Toronto Township, the Town of Mississauga and the City of Mississauga.
What does he remember most about the building? "We'd be in the council chambers fighting like hell all morning and then we'd go over to The Orchard (Restaurant) and have lunch and be the best of friends. Then we'd head back and fight like hell again all afternoon," says Searle, 88 and in failing health.
"It was built to be a landmark," says Matthew Wilkinson, the historian at the Mississauga Heritage Foundation and one of the members who spoke up for a better fate for the building at the HAC meeting.
Because the central library building was constructed to the west and an office tower to the east, there was basically no landmark left to see from busy Dundas St., however.
After the town hall was moved, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board moved into 100 Dundas W. for several years before building its own headquarters. Sheridan College subsequently rented for several years, but the lonely-looking building has been boarded up and empty now for several years.
The International style of architecture features clean, crisp lines, straight edges and "simple Cubist" compositions. It is a style that does not easily find favour with the public or politicians.
Coupled with the fact that the building is boxed in and Confederation Square isn't a shining example of the style, "it makes for a pretty tough sell," says Wilkinson.
Were the building another 50 years old, it might be more likely to be saved but it is not far enough behind us in our collective rear-view mirror to have the cachet needed for heritage preservation.
There are other examples of the International style in Mississauga, such as Port Credit Library and Port Credit Memorial Arena but they aren't exactly stellar either. Chances are we will eventually have to travel to Toronto, where they have some better examples, if we want to see the style on the landscape.
On the recommendation of the heritage planner, at least one piece of the Confederation Square building may live on. The distinctive bas relief sculpture (below) near its entrance was created by Toronto artist Cleve Horne. He superimposed the outline of a family on the map of Toronto Township, with planes and runways symbolizing the airport, oil tanks for the refineries in the south, sailing boats, fish, waves, farm equipment, wheat and apples. Mmmm.... no cars.
The intent is that the City move the sculpture elsewhere, perhaps to be incorporated in a new development.
A heritage plaque recognizing Sir William Pearce Howland, the only American-born father of Confederation, who settled in Cooksville in 1830 is almost invisible to the public and serves the singular purpose of supporting a parking lot sign. It is also to be saved and relocated, within Cooksville, on public land one would surely hope.
Another good building that served admirably as our municipal headquarters from 1873-1972, is gone.
This is how our history slips slowly away from us — one logical decision at a time.

There will be no problem finding a new location in Cooksville for either the historic plaque dedicated to Sir William Pearce Howland, or the sculpture that graces the facade of the boarded-up Confederation Square building which served as the former Mississauga town hall, says current Ward 7 Councillor Nando Iannicca.
In fact, the councillor already has suggestions about where each should be relocated.
The Howland plaque, which commemorates the Father of Confederation who lived and ran his business in Cooksville for a decade in the 1830s, would be ideally suited to be placed in the little parkette at the northwest corner of the historic four corners of Cooksville, at Dundas and Hurontario Sts., he feels.
"When Mr. Arback (developer Nathan) put up the building just behind there where the library is now located, we had him set it back a bit so there is a little area with benches and a couple of trees so we could create a little urban parkette," says Iannicca. "I think that's contextually where it belongs."
Excellent idea.
As for the bas relief sculpture done by artist Cleve Horne to depict the bright future of Toronto Township when the new town hall opened in 1953, (Hazel was just a Hurricane waiting to happen the next year then) the councillor is hopeful that can be incorporated in the new development that may rise on the lands once the demolition of the old town hall goes forward.
The Libfeld family, owners of The Observatory Group had their property, which wraps around the east and south sides of the former central library at the corner of Dundas and Confederation Pkwy., rezoned for luxury condominiums many years ago.
The development was the apple of Iannicca's eye for several years as he negotiated a deal with the owners that would have seen Cooksville retain its library there when Central moved up to its current site in front of City Hall. "Not only that, but we negotiated for a 20,000 sq. ft. community centre," says Iannicca, who grew up in a house on King St. W. just to the south of the site.
"Unfortunately, the market changed almost as soon as it was approved and it never happened," adds the Ward 7 councillor and self-appointed chief Cooksville cheerleader.
The idea of having the library incorporated in a private development was subsequently transferred to the Arback development.
The City still owns the former Central Library site. It will soon be going up for sale, offered first to other public bodies such as the Region and school boards. If there is no interest there, it could be sold to the adjacent landowner at fair market value.
"I've already talked to them (Observatory) about incorporating the sculpture somewhere in their new plans and they're all for it," says the councillor. Better that it be used in a private development than stuffed away in a warehouse somewhere and never see the light of day again.
The new proposal by the Observatory Group will be for a work/live/stacked townhouse multi-use type of development which has been tried in Oakville on the eastern fringe of the downtown core near the marina with great success. "It's catching on like wildfire there," says Iannicca.
At today's general committee session, the Ward 7 rep talked about visiting a bed and breakfast, "a croissant's toss from the Arc de Triomphe" in Paris which incorporated such a myriad of uses, including dentist's and lawyer's offices, the residential component and a superb bakery on the ground floor. Or, as Iannicca — who is just slightly prone to hyperbole — put it: "the finest pastry shop in the history of the civilized world."
That is commonplace in the great cities of the world but isn't even on the map in North America.
In any event, he's hoping that the developer comes forward with an innovative design incorporating a variety of uses that, "would see the kind of animation on street level that we are always looking for," but seldom achieve.
The home grown councillor says the level of interest in redevelopment in Cooksville has significantly notched up recently, thanks to a number of factors including a lack of GTA greenfields in which to develop anymore and the significant enhancement of transit planned in the next few years on both Dundas and Hurontario Sts.
It looks like Cooksville could the next great frontier for development — again. Maybe it will even happen this time.

Welcome back to Rambo Central.
OK, OK ... an amendment already: Rambo Central is actually located directly to your right in the Recent Comments section.
It truly is amazing how the story of Gabriela Nowakowska's alleged pit bull has touched the public nerve.
That's what happens when the weight of a well-intentioned but deeply-flawed law is brought to bear on a 20-year-old woman who just wants her puppy back.
Nowakowska is an earnest, honest citizen who doesn't know from bylaws or breed designation legislation or animal control officers. As she keeps saying over and over again, "I just love my dog and I want him back."
Here's a brief state-of-the-nation about where things appear to stand at the moment:
Gabriela met earlier this week for the first time for two-and-a-half hours with her lawyer, Anik Morrow.
Ward 6 Councillor Carolyn Parrish, otherwise known as unofficial assistant attorney for the defence, reports that Gabriela is "digging in" for the long haul, planning to fight to get her dog back.
"The law is wrong," says the wishy-washy councillor. "Especially the way it tries to ban dogs that are 'suspected' of being something you don't want them to be."
One of the things that the Nowakowska crew will try to show is the inequitable application of the law across the province. In some cities, such as Sarnia and Hamilton, animal control offices are actually co-operating in shipping animals out of Ontario, says the councillor.
In Nowakowska's case, she was not even offered the option.
Since part of the definition has been struck down and the Court of Appeal is to hear lawyer Clayton Ruby attack the remnants of a law aimed at pitbulls, a breed that does not actually exist, Gabriela's lawyer hopes to establish some ground rules for the process that municipalities should adhere to in applying Bill 132. A level playing field would seem to be a reasonable request.
Why should a "prohibited" dog face a different fate in one municipality than another?
Also, Rambo has hit Facebook in earnest.
Fight To Save Rambo, Save Rambo From Death Row, Let's Break Rambo Out and Fight For Rambo are just some of the pages popping up.
Kerry Hartman of Kingston who is helping Sean Verbeek, a Sir Sanford Fleming student who set up Fight To Save Rambo (www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9393872570) says "you're more likely to get attacked on the street than get attacked by a pitbull. This little dog is obviously a mixed breed."
He's upset that when friends sent an email to the mayor's office about Rambo, they got a message back that states, "law over emotion."
"This has got nothing to do with emotion," says Hartman. "It has to do with a being — a life of something that has done nothing to anyone. This dog is being put down because it looks like something else."
On the page, which already has over 700 members, a petition has been started (www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/337468534.) More than 200 people have signed to date.
A protest is also being planned outside the municipal courthouse at 950 Burnhamthorpe Rd. W. (the old Consumer's Gas building) when Gabriela makes her first appearance Fri. Feb. 29. "There may be just 10 or 20 or 30 of us, but we'll be there," says Hartman. One of those picketing will be — just as she promised — eight-year-old Jazmine Humble, subject of an earlier blog, who wants to support her friend Gabriela.
Nowakowska has numerous supporters she doesn't even know about.
Like Sherry Yacoob of Mississauga who phoned this morning to ask how she could help.
"We seem to be such a reactive and sensational society," said Yacoob who has no pets. "We have so many laws that don't seem to make our society better. Our laws are only as good as they are thought out and executed. I don't think this dog should be killed just because a law says he should be. It's not because of anything he's done.
"I have a picture of Rambo up beside all of my friends. Every night I touch him and say 'I'm sending the angels to help you.'"