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We must protect future victims of youth violence
We must protect future victims of youth violence - The Era Banner - August 19, 1999
Letter to the Editor
An open letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien
Yesterday was a very sad day for us. Instead of enjoying the wonderful weather and the start of the holiday weekend and the
start of the holiday weekend, we visited our friends, Joe and Lozanne Wamback and their son Jonathan.
Jonathan is in a coma and is now a patient of the Bloorview MacMillan Centre in Toronto.
Jonathan's coma was induced by the savage beating he received by three young men.
We implore you to give priority to reviewing and modifying the Young Offenders Act so as to hold the predators who hide behind
this Act accountable to society for their actions.
The only way the tragedy of this situation can be fully understood is to know the circumstances of its occurrence.
Jonathan is a 15-year-old , Grade 10 student. We've known him for seven years.
He is quiet, courteous, shy and responsible. He was one of our children's favourite babysitters.
He was a gifted athlete with a passion for golf. By age 12, he was regularly beating his father and grandfather. They were
proud to lose to him.
Our children, ages 11, nine and six, were eager to gain Jonathan's affections because of the respect they felt for him.
We cannot answer their questions as to why Jonathan was attacked. It makes no sense to them or to us.
Jonathan grew up with all the benefits that our country has to offer.
We live in a nice neighbourhood in a small city with a strong sense of community.
We have great schools where the parents get involved, sports associations and recreational facilities abound in our city.
Two days after the assault, the United Nations named Canada the best country in the world to live.
Newmarket has to rate as one of the best small cities in Canada.
The irony is that Jonathan almost died and his life will forever be diminished in this setting.
This was not a petty property crime, carried out by impressionable young teenagers trying to conform to peer pressure.
If the Young Offenders Act is allowed to protect these men, it will make a mockery of every civic and human value we have
tried to instill in our children.
Joe and Lozanne succeeded in raising Jonathan to become a valuable citizen of Canada.
Our country has suffered a loss as a result of his injuries.
We could not do anything to protect Jonathan, but we can do something to protect the future victims of youth violence by
changing the act so that predators like Jonathan's assailants will bear the full consequences of the Canadian law.
It is a privilege and an honour to be a Canadian.
Our children must learn that privileges and honours, just like respect, must be earned.
Please help us to teach this to our children and reform the hypocrisy of the Young Offenders Act.
DR. ROD STEWART AND TRACY STEWART
NEWMARKET
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