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p4 the- tributhjjlaqveer 197 st thursday november 20 1997 vol 109 no 76 the tribune comment inions send your letters to the editor to the address below editorial cautious optimism on healthcare plan residents of 905 regions including york should be cautiously optimistic about the future of health care in their communities the health services restructuring commission is recommend ing that the provincial government spend 329 million to expand and improve local hospitals and health care in the regions sur rounding metro toronto thats good news on two fronts first the commission recognizes that theres a need to invest money to make physical improvements to hospital buildings and equipment to keep up with the growing populations now living in the 905 regions but it must be noted the capital investment money is a onetime only payout second the commission recommends the government spend money to expand or start up critical inpatient and outpatient ser vices in york region such as orthopedic cancer care mental health and longterm care but both markham stouffville and york central hospitals are cautious about the longterm effects of the commissions report theyre not sure enough money is going to be available to accom modate the burgeoning populations they serve the gta905 healthcare alliance representing 16 hospitals in the 905 area maintains that the province should double the money spent on health care to serve a population which will reach nearly 3 million by the year 2003 the alliance wants an additional s300 million spent on health care over and above what the commission is recommending hopefully when the dust has settled health care in 905 regions will improve in the future its a matter of life or death here are things parents can do to fight bill 160 dear editor many concerned teachers and par ents voiced their displeasure over bill 160 to local mpp julia munro at a community meeting held on nov 13 these concerns focused on the undemocratic nature of the bill cuts of 700 million dollars in the next school year use of unqualified teachers and the exclusion of par ents teachers and trustees from decision making which would be the exclusive domain of the premier and the cabinet many parents have asked what they can do to help fight bill 160 here is a list of suggestions that the residents of ontario can consid er to show their objections to this destructive bill 1 sign the referendum petition at letters your local school 2 support the green ribbon cam paign throughout the school year 3 phone fax or visit your local mpp julia munro 4 contact your local town media to ensure they continue to address this important topic throughout the coming months 5 contact your newlyelected local trustee 6 help forge an alliance between the parent councils of the seven local town schools to help present a stronger unified voice 7 explain your concerns over bill 1 60 to other voters in town who do not have children in the school sys tem and may not be aware of the impact of this bill on society 8 if the bill passes do not stop your efforts but continue to cam paign for amendments during the coming months only through a united and con tinuous effort by educators and par ents will we be able to protect our schools from the destructive effects of bill 160 and from further cuts to education funding steven kerley stouffville sunday openings will cause family sorrow reckless driver must pay dear editor i read with mixed feelings of both anger and sympathy about the recent traffic accident involving a reckless driver on kennedy road in markham there are far too many incidents like this one involving drivers who have either not had proper driver training or who have little respect for the rules of the road when will people wake up and realize that the average car weigh ing in at one ton moving at high speeds can be a deadly weapon when handled irresponsibly as a licensed driver for more than 25 years with no driving in fractions i am appalled by the dri vers on our streets who speed tail gate and change lanes dangerous ly the thought of someone pur posely rearending a moving vehi cle in order to control the road makes my blood boil i hope and pray that our legal system will severely punish the dri ver who so arrogantly and thought lessly decided that he owned the road sacrificing the safety of inno cent people i would like to extend my sincere sympathies towards the family of bruce clark for their tragic loss how many more people have to die before people stop using their vehicles as tools of aggression and symbols of power over others ann vickery stouffville dear editor on my way home last sunday i picked up two local newspapers at my mail box the port perry this week and the tribune from uxbridge the front page stories were mayor arrested for drunk driving and uxbridge liquor patrons can soon shop sundays on monday i received a letter from the madd campaign stat ing that in 1995 in ontario alone an estimated 560 people were killed and 37000 injured as a result of what they call a senseless crime in her column tribune sab bath booze sales a drop in the bucket joan ransberry states that there will be 425 beer stores and 700 liquor stores allowed to open on sundays thanks to our govern ment is this what the people want or is this what will bring more money for the government the government has said in the teachers strike that they were deeply concerned about our chil dren i ask will allowing more liquor stores and gambling casinos to open on sundays benefit our chil dren and will it lessen the numbers of tragedies on the highways and in the homes openings on sundays could be the last drop in the bucket that can bring sorrow to many of our fami lies joan remarked that she was an old hippie sad to say i am much older and i have seen the slow dete rioration of the sabbath day over the years from what god designed it to be a day of rest and spiritu al refreshment the idea of an open sunday to buy alcoholic beverages gives me great concern but the idea put for ward by the head of the church that i have a membership in is much worse to me it is an attempt to destroy the very foundation of the christian faith to what length are we going to allow things like these to continue before we stand up and say enough is enough don asling uxbridge stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about iis news 9056402100 retail sales 9056402100 classifieds 9056402874 distribution 9056402100 fax 905 6405477 email thetribistarca 6244 main st stouffville ont l4a1e2 tho stouflville tribune pub lished every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distribution group of commu- nity newspapers which includes ajaxpickcririg news advertiser alllston heraldcourier barrle advance brampton guardian burlington post cityparent collingwoodwasaga beach con nection east york mirror etobi- eokc guardian georgetown inde- pendentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week markham economist sun midlandpcnetanguishcnc mirror milton canadian champion mis- sissauga news newmarketaurora erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakvllle beaver oriuia today oshawa- whithycuringtbnport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hulthornhluvaughsn liberal scarborough mirror and uxbridge tribune todays seniors contents cannot be reprinted with out written permission from the publisher permit 1247 the pub lisher reserves the right to refuse or classify an advertisement credit for advertisement limited to space use error occupied letters policy the tribune welcomes your letters to the editor please keep letters to no more than 300 words note that letters may be edited for space 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