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6 economist suntribune saturday july 27 2002 s stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville ont l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra weller editor classified manager jim mason ann campbell production manager retail sales manager pam nichols stephen mathieu distribution manager inside sales manager barry black stacey allen electronic business manager robert lazurko opinion communications manager john futhey office manager vivian oneil letters housing developments should fit in with stouffvilles style re whitchurchstouffville council meet ing on july 23 on the proposed madori sub division east of the ninth line and glad park public school upon hearing that it was announced at the meeting that i was in support of the pro posed zone change for the subdivision i felt compelled to follow up with some clarifica tion i guess my error was that i was vague in my support of the development at this location i do support housing developments in stouffville in fact i am quite excited about them and look forward to purchasing one of the new homes however i am not in favour of the small lot sizes that are being proposed i have a concern for affordable housing in our town and therefore would support some townhomes or semis however it should be done in a stouffville way in other words these new homes should complement and be similar in lot size with our current subdivisions i believe there is room and a need for all types of housing in our town from town- houses to estate homes i think the majority should fall into the middle of the pack with three and fourbed room homes on a 5060 by 140180 foot lots none of these would be possible on the proposed development i like to believe our town is a familyori ented place as such both existing resi dents and potential buyers are looking for quality affordable housing situated on familysized lots that can accommodate not only the housing itself but also leave sufficient green space in the backyard for swing sets forts slides sand boxes back yard camping and maybe even a pool for our children surely our municipal government can develop a vision for the town with respect to new subdivisions so that developers and potential new residents can be familiar with what stouffville has to offer please accept this letter as my support of housing developments in stouffville but not as support of the proposed highdensi ty developments currently being discussed jeremy wideman stouffville tody put in the 91ht defence minister should reopen friendly fire investigation defence minister and markham mp john mccallums thinking is wrong when it comes to his refusal to reopen the investiga tion into the friendly fire deaths of four canadian troops in afghanistan he has said i think the families want closure to this well the families of the dead and injured troops want to know the full train of events as do all canadians and americans so such a tragedy does not hap pen again were the pilots informed of training exercises or not was the awacs plane informed of training exercises or not unless and until these and all other- squestions are answered there can be no closure for the families nor assurance com munications will not break down again and lead to more deaths and injuries those dropping bombs are but one ele ment it is unconscionable that only the pilots role has been thoroughly assessed while mr mccallum may believe a new probe is out of the question he is dead wrong if a complete explanation of the cir cumstances of this tragedy is not forth coming canadian soldiers participating in other joint undertakings must be consid ered as being at serious risk from more friendly fire those who do not support the govern ment s view are encouraged to inform their mps ask them to demand the prime minis ter reopen the inquiry until all questions are answered why the prime minister because he rather than his new defence minister makes final decisions patricia barclay salt spring island bc signs that make some feel inferior are unacceptable apparentiy parking spaces for people with children only is a sensitive topic for some the responses of mr farrar ms jung and presumably others to my july 13 letter no law can force me to be considerate to other drivers unwittingly demonstrated my intended point although its principal spirit was lost my facetious letter was about the free dom and choice to be generous or selfish and to be grateful you and i have those lib erties in canada that the economist suntribune was free to publish my obnoxious commentary and those of you negatively touched by it had the absolute liberty to respond with how you felt without fear of reprisal from authorities or worry your thoughts might be seen as unkind belligerent or dare i say impolite for the record i dont cut off minivans full of children to catch vacant spots i habitually hold doors open for strangers and give up my seat to others i frequently buy girl guide cookies in parking lots ive had to juggle my keys cellphone groceries briefcase and my small nephew all at once succeeding often in dropping one of them and i rarely kick puppies on my way to work moreover the deeper most unsettling component of my letter was also overlooked when we detach a segment of the communi ty possessing a unique characteristic and then define that feature and adjoin it with the word only we allow the most danger ous thing to start happening in a free and just society the establishment of rank and sta tion signs containing the word only that make someone feel segregated or inferior no matter how innocentlooking or well intentioned the message are not accept able in society unless they serve to amelio rate preexisting legitimate bias or inequali ty i dont believe a store owner is prepared to say my sister and her sons patronage is more valuable than mine hence the closer parking for them nor do i believe mr noble would tolerate express checkout lanes marked men only or a sign in a shop reading whites only even if it is just 1 per cent of the total shops is the leap really that far undeniably encouraging harmony is a worthy effort but being kind and consider ate isnt enough to build it we need unconditional equality without special allowances for lighter skin fatter wal lets or offspring those parking spots sit on the fence between discretion and discrimination which side they fall on depends on whether the minority or majority wind is blowing eric a wolf richmond hill drivers of all vehicles not just luxury brands discourteous re we dont need to encourage impolite behaviour in york region letter to the editor by ann jung july 20 while i agree with ms jungs assertion that we need to encourage courteous and polite citizens in york region and that civility must extend to our inadequate and congested roads i am perplexed as to why shiny new bmwmercedesjaguarrange rovers were singled out is it not ironic that these are luxury vehi cles am i to assume that in addition to a laudable desire for civility and respect for the law ms jung disapproves of these vehicles and the drivers who choose to own them am i to assume that drivers of these vehi cles are the most discourteous ones on our roads the fact is that discourteous behaviour extends to drivers from just about every seg ment of our society we must be careful to be fair to all of our citizenswhen we make assertions especially when our society struggles to value the rich diversity of people including economic diversity who choose to make york region their home yorks strength is fueled by the people who create wealth for all of us denvil buchanan markham letters policy stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham ont 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