The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 economist suntribune thursday nov 14 2002 s stouffville tribune serving the community since 1856 a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editorial residents key part of tourism stjutegy tourism is the fastest growing sector of the provincial economy its ontarios sixth largest industry providing jobs for 500000 people and oak ridges mpp frank klees ontarios newest tourism and recreation minister wants us to get in on the action mr klees made a strong pitch to the provinces municipal administrators last week asking them to ensure their municipalities are supporting growth of the tourism industry he released a tourism study which recom mends areas that could attract international tourists be identified and developed it seems a stretch to imagine visitors from around the world flocking to york region certainly york region isnt muskoka or sudbury agrees don eastwood the regions director of economic development but that doesnt mean capturing a bigger piece of the tourism pie is out of the question canadas wonderland the mcmichael canadian art collection and kortright centre for conservation in vaughan and sibbald point provincial park briars inn and red barn theatre in georgiha are key attractions as it stands tourism is nothing to sneeze at in the region more than 17 million visitors travel here annually spending about 180 mil lion that helps generate 540 million in direct economic activity and more than 30000 jobs if you ask him to blue sky mr eastwood will share a vision that includes the develop ment of equestrian facilities and events he sees the development of a superior net work of trails in natural areas such as the oak ridges moraine he sees extensive golf tours and arts and cultural experiences when that happens the investment will come by emphasizing partnerships york region is well positioned to take advantage of its potential and mr klees has indicated the province is prepared to come to the table but theres another important partnership to be considered one with us the ordinary res idents of york region for tourism to be suc cessful the tourists must feel welcome we have to be prepared to adjust our lives to make our communities more attractive to visitors for example one of the obstacles to exploit ing lake simcoes potential is lack of public access most of the georgina shoreline is private while mr klees promotes ecotourism as a way to protect the oak ridges moraine will residents who fought so hard to save the natur al area accept parking facilities trails or inter pretive centres near the jefferson forest tourism offers enormous potential for more jobs and more tax revenue but area res idents should be aware and involved later this month the ministry is launching a series of stakeholder consultations to shape a threetofive year tourism strategy its a good time for residents to put their views forward to local governments and busi ness organizations opinion letters to the editor raymerville death reminder to drive with greater care re markham student hit by car dies in parents arms nov 5 when i heard about the incident that took the life of jorge martinez i was very upset his picture appeared in the economist suntribune and i recognized him immedi ately i burst into tears a sweet boys life has been cut short his parents and sisters lives will never be the same we all feel the same emotions grief shock and anger but when you think about it we are all responsible everything we do affects others every time we drive to an appointment home work school or wherever we need to drive responsibly and obey the speed limits and stop signs i have been a crossing guard for 1 1 years and have noticed so much deterioration in peoples driving habits most drivers dont even bother to stop for me anymore i am sure people involved in car accidents are horrified at their outcome still every time we climb into our cars we need to stop think and drive responsibly just remember wherever youre going it will always be there but a childs life his hopes and dreams can end in a second and the reper cussions go on forever gloria trussler markham the economist sunstouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the economist suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham l3p 1m3 email letterseconsuncom if club moves into town hall what happens to old post office is one heritage building more heritage than another heritage building the whitchurchstouffville silver jubilee club has operated from the old federal post office on main street for 25 years this struc ture is on the built heritage inventory town authority but so far not wliitchurchstouffville council has offered the club the opportunity to move into anoth er building on the built heritage inventory the old town hall on civic avenue this structure is in the process of being offi cially designated as a heritage building and is to remain town property question if the club move takes place will the old post office building remain town prop erty or will it be sold to generate revenue is the proposed move a matter of money and not the preservation of heritage fred robbins stouffville editorial editor jim mason neivsroomvconsimcom advertising retail sales manager steve kane stevekyorkregioncom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrewserabannercom classified manager ann campbell anncerabannercom real estate manager mike rogerson production electronic communications manager john futhey jfulheyyrngcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackeconsuncom administration office manager vivian oneil voneileconsuncom york region events managing director debra welter divellcryrngcom shows manager stacey allen sallenyrngcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 9052942100 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8531765 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontariopress circulations audit council board member stouffville tribune a york region newspaper group community newspaper trie stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhill vaughan cfeen markham economist sun stouffville tribune stouffyioe sun georgina advocate york regkxi business times at home good life yorkregtocom and york regto printing editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director rebul flyer sales nicole mathieu advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci fesg33v gjbj pw bi ijs- jffig ri us v m dave teetzel politicians pay our money take their chances s ometimes it seems like this municipal government business is like picking a horse and i dont just mean at election time just look at the bill the region is eating as a result of last summers garbage strike in toronto the problem was most towns trust ed the advice of york region staff they believed toronto would have to pay any added costs caused when the cupe strike gummed up opera tions at the keele valley landfill so york trucked the trash from most municipali ties to private dump sites then after the region had spent 377593 hauling waste to alternate sites the bureaucrats started singing a different tune suddenly the legal opinion was costs couldnt be recovered unless york could prove toronto hadnt fulfilled its side of the agreement and the lawyers werent so confident they could do that interestingly vaughan which has the most experience in dealing with toronto on garbagerelated matters chose to make its own arrangements georgina and east gwillimbury kept their waste at local transfer strikes gambling the strike would be over before the sites were overloaded they were the only ones who werent presented with huge bills markham was being asked for 166000 the region tried to squeeze 114000 out of richmond hill richmond hill mayor bill bell fought the buck passing and won when it comes to picking political horses mr bell looks like the smartest guy at the track right now for the past couple of years the mayor has been vil ified by many for his councils decision to sell richmond hill hydro to markham and vaughan the mayor gave away control of a vital service with out consulting the public critics said hydro privatization has been a dis aster beating an allout retreat from an enraged electorate premier ernie eves has capped rates putting the viability of new private utilities in question most hydro utilities including munici pally owned ones are on credit watch richmond hill doesnt have to worry about that unlike vaughan richmond hill is a mere consumer of hydro elec tric power not that mr bell is doing an endzone dance quite yet he says it will be years before we can safely form an opinion about that decision and a lot can happen between then and now like vaughan and markham might decide to save on their hydro costs by shutting off the grid to their obnoxious neighbour when you do well at the track its best not to wave your winnings in peo ples faces