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6 stouffville suntribune thursday march 23 2006 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director advertising distribution barry black director interactive media technology john futhey director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean editorial change rules on floor crossing sometimes the rules of politics can be so far removed from the workings of the real world they make you shake your head in disbelief crossing the floor from one party to another from one ideology to another after campaigning diligently against the platforms and philosophies of what has become your new party reeks of hypocrisy and opportunism for some for those who cast their ballots to elect a party rather than an individual floor crossing is an insulting slap in the face people in newmarketaurora are all too familiar with this kind of controversy then former conservative belinda stronach crossed the floor and accepted a cabinet post last year she was vilified as a traitor by tory faithful in her riding and even shunned by some liberals but in the last election she was easily returned to ottawa as a liberal as her community accepted her as a hard working politician msstronach has welcomed an ethics investigation into her defection then her tory critics were silenced when one of prime minister stephen harpers first acts in office was to woo liberal david emerson to his cabinet mr emersons constituents those same constituents were outraged he could change his stripes so quickly after an election but whatever the voters might think ethics commissioner bernard shapiro ruled monday mr harper and mr emerson were operating within the rules ofparliament the voters continue to demand a byelecubn it doesnt look like they will get one it appears the rules are at odds with the will of voters so perhaps its time to change the rules heres mr harpers opportunity to make politicians accountable to the very voters who put them in office the ndp has called for legislation that would force a defecting mp to sit as an independent until he or she can run under another partys banner in the next election under this policy mr emerson could vote with the conservatives if he chooses to do so but he wouldnt be given a plum position for changing his mind or if mr harper really wanted him in cabinet he would have to accept that the rules of party discipline wouldnt apply tory mp jason kenny says his party would allowa free vote if somebody puts forward a motion on the issue and lets hope mps vote with the vot ers best interest rather than their own at heart letters to the editor ancestors donated land facilities for memorial park re residents should get involved to ensure memorial park survives letter to the editor march 16 the land for our park in downtown stouffville was donated by the sangsters two brothers who were medical doctors in our community many years ago the picnic shelter a nice place to come for a family picnic was donated by the lions club the outdoor swimming pool was donated by the late art latcham in summer who wants to swim indoors now council wants to build roads through the park and ettminate two ball diamonds the town is also talking about puting a road behind the grandstand and latcham hall which will all but destroy the main diamond what good will that road be there will be no businesses on it to deliver to save for the post office council annually closes church street through the park every summer so why put another road through the area stouffvilles residents deserve a park in the heart of their community to which people can come and enjoy what good are little parks with splash pools after children get to be 10 or 12 years old they cant have a game of ball of any kind in parks of that size please reconsider ripping apart our park town council gerald acton stouffville the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom or fax 9055137525 rural mail delivery change inconveniences seniors my husband and i have lived in whitchurch stouffville for 32 years and have had a rural mail box on rr3 newmarket as long as we have lived here due to changs made by canada post earlier this year we now must pick up our mail in a communi ty box at kennedy road and st johns sideroad on the next concession from our house my husband has macular degeneration and does hot see well he has given up driving and we must take a taxi to town for shopping every two weeks i am 80 years old and my husband is 78 do we now have to walk oneandaquarter miles on busy kennedy or take a taxi for our mail too to post our outgoing mail a neighbour would have to go to our box and get our incoming mail come to our house to pick up our outgoing mail and then return to our box this is not convenient elsie menzies whitchurchstouffville editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrngcom assistant editor rickvanderlinde rvanderlindeymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsyrngcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauymgcom retail manager staceyallen sallenyrngcom new business development manager mikerogerson mrdgersonymgcom production team leader sherry day sdayymgcom editorial fax9055i3755 advertising 9055131717 classified 18007433353fax 9058531765 distribution 9055l37l7 canadian ontario audit boanl member coundl suntnbune skitcrr tjucrataxvrik sscv 7zxehstxq2v30zswasnxiasikttfa v zusm a york region newspaper group community newspaper die suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ud a whollyowned subsidiary of totstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhillvaughan citizenthe economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora georgina advocate york region business tines north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing rul2fcez off the top with jim mason when it wasnt fashionable to be a spirit fan thirty ken burrows remembers the number vividly like it was his pin or his mom lornas birthday thirty people dotted the bleachers in the stouffville arena that saturday night 10 years ago apparently some of the parents and girlfriends of the stouffville spirit players elected to watch hockey night in canada or catch a movie rather than see their fledgling jr a hockey team lose another one ken burrows a local minor hockey star in the 1980s had just agreed to be a parttime scout with the spirit looking around at the emptiness he wasnt sure what he was gettinginto the spirit was in last place its playoff hopes extinguished very early in the season fast forward a decade to last sunday afternoon more than 1000 fans filled all of the bleachers and lined the boards and when the spirit left the ice after a marathon match of two overtimes with its first ever trophy those fans saluted the freshly crowned champions with plenty of highfives applause and backslap ping in the mix was ken burrows smiling from ear to ear from scout to assistant coach and general manager he has seen it all in spiritland from stouffville businessman ed hakonson rescuing the floundering fran chise in its first season to a steady stream of community minded volunteers from the thousands of players who have tried out for squad every spring to the few hundred who have donned the black white and red and the purple and red before that from the near misses in attempts to win three grueling playoff rounds and the north conference championship of the provincial jr a hockey league to sundays ohsosweet trophy presenta tion hockey aside community is what dri ves the spirit from the players reading to primary students in local schools to assisting at minor hockey practices they wash cars for the terry fox run founda tion and play road hockey at summer fairs from the super fans like ringwoods alice vague who baked cookies and delivered them to the spirit bus before road trips 10 years ago to mayor sue sherban resplendent in her spirit jersey in sundays throng thirty not any longer jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune and a director with the stouffville spirit