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economist sunsuntribune saturday sept 2 2006 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 6290 main st stouffville on l4a7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra wetter york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor stouffville above this behaviour re letters to the editor with change comes crime aug 5 by ken sandiford and newcomers not to be feared aug 19 by lisa thompson after reading the letters i wondered when the war of words between the old and new residents of our proud town would become a more peaceful productive discussion i am neither a new nor old resident i fall somewhere in between yet stouffville is known as my family roots five generations of my heritage have been in this area since settling in canada i would like to propose we use our inter est and involvement in this town for the bet terment of the community as opposed to mudslinging between neighbours and lay ing out blame for the changes on the new comers we are a better community than this whether old or new to the area there may be a point you are missing this town was built by the hearts and spirit of neighbours helping others respecting each other and sharing and making use of of the local resources to begin the makeup of the town we now call home in the spirit of the foundation of our town please neighbours forget this senseless ban ter and battery of each other and the break ing of our community spirit i am not so idealistic that i am looking through rosecoloured glasses but we all live here for our own reasons one being just as important or valid as another and it is possible for us all to reside here happily change is inevitable let us respect our neighbours throughout it we are all community members new or old we are all here and we all have an invest ment and involvement in our town community members obviously care about the town or the time would not be found to write letters therefore i see no real- reason not to move on and open up more productive critical discussions when it comes to the issues of our town the point is do we not have more pressing issues to discuss amongst ourselves as citi zens other than the length of time you have resided in our town what about issues like traffic control crime or the need for new facilities let us stop placing blame and let us get proactive in our discussions not reactive to our towns changes but lets do it together a town with a strong community spirit will always survive and always has a special feel to it when you walk downthe streets chances are we were all drawn to it here in stouffville janislovett stouffville taxing your patience one final edition york region council had just given away 500000 of your money when my first column appeared in this newspaper in january 2005 the federal and provincial gov ernments have just given away 400 million of your money as i write this my final column in this newspaper i was angry then and im angry now i only hope that over the past 19 months ive made you angry a few times too when york handed 500000 to agencies promising to help tsuna mi victims it at least was intended to help the helpless i objected because it was done with no public consultation and despite the countless opportunities citizens had to donate on their own behalf last week the two senior levels of government handed hundreds of millions to general motors so it could build muscle cars in oshawa were supposed to be con cerned about alleged global warm ing and depleting oil supplies yet your tax dollars are going to manu facture v8 engines the stunning inconsistency and hypocrisy are half the annoyance my blood boils further at the mediaaccepted myth this will protect or create jobs for 80000ayear autoworkers government handouts to busi ness dont create jobs they kill jobs at profitable successful com panies by confiscating taxes from them and handing the money to firms that are unsuccessful by defi nition the federal government col lects more money than it spends by at least 4 billion this year meanwhile york regions own greg sorbara announced last week that the queens park liberals have a 298million surplus thanks to your health premium tax that has done nothing to improve medical care the surplus arrives in time to help the government seek re-elec- tion after increasing its tax revenue by 6 billion since 2003 up 32 per bruce annan cent the average canadian family earns 79396 a year taxes from all levels of government consume 46 per cent of that or 36650 accord ing to the fraser institute we pay more in taxes than for food clothing and shelter com bined a few readers have told me to quit complaining and be thankful to live in such a great country indeed were lucky blessed with peace and security a bounty of natural resources and a popula tion of immigrants and their descendants who sought freedom and were willing to work for self- sufficiency it is a blessing we have largely squandered we should have the worlds best infrastructure and social services yet we have a crisis in power gener ation waste disposal transporta tion and health care ever since the days of the trudeaubroadbent coalition our governments have responded to the complaints of special interest groups demanding gobs of cash for shortterm fixes in fact they give grants to lobby groups so they can afford the staff to demand the government give them more money not that anyones ever satisfied with a government handout ifs always a good start but more is needed and the so- called spokesperson for victims du jour is usually taking a cut of the funds the philosophy of the whiners who dominate the daily news is simple take the money from the people who earned it and give to the people who didnt the growth of government has led to the decline of service clubs volunteerism and charitable dona tions as taxburdened canadians are forced to decide that charity begins at home my sympathies lie with you poor buggers dragging yourselves out of bed at 5 am spending an hour each way on the highway and working so you can give your kids a decent home with the 54 per cent of salary the government lets you keep we shrug and say what can you do the answer write a letter to the editor or pick up the phone and call the office of your mayor mpp ormp thanks for reading bruce annan is a vorfr region writer and consultant he can be reached as bniceannangmailcom comments regard ing this column for the letters page can be sent tojmasonymgcom letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribunereserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space utters to the editor the suntribune stouffville on l4a7z5 j jmasonyrngcom 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