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6 stouffville suntribune w thursday oct 12 2006 stouffville suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 6290 main st stouffville on l4a1g7 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 health worth more than tax deduction remember back in january when you made that new years resolution to get in shape you took out that bargain fitness club membership and worked out regularly for two months the last time you saw the place was sometime in may but you have been paying monthly workout or no workout wouldnt it be nice to get some of that back on your taxes the fitness industry council of canada is lobbying for just that the fitness club lobby group has started a campaign to make mem berships tax deductible and is encouraging people to send post cards to the federal government the argument is that promoting fitness will save the government more in health care costs and indus try downtime that it would cost in taxes and federal finance minister jim flaherty has already embraced the general idea offering a 500 tax cred it to help cover registration fees for childrens sports in his spring budget if its good for children why not grownups but we can extend that a little if the feds will give you a tax break for the gym membership you dont use why not for that asseenontv home workout contraption that siits in your basement collecting dust its keeping you every bit as fit as your gym membership should you be able to deduct your registration fees for slopitch or beer league hockey or does the post- game drinking cancel out the health benefit of playing the sport and what about the poor slob who gets up at 5 am to run a few miles before work he shouldnt lose out just because he isnt spending a lot of money to keep fit maybe he can write off his nikes or maybe there are some things peo ple should do even if theres no tax incentive the benefits of an active lifestyle are well documented you feel better you have less stress you are more alert and you are less susceptible to various illnesses all those things are more important than a tax saving the tax break is a torys favourite language if something is good it deserves a tax break but it isnt necessary to attach a tax advantage to every virtue in this case an industry wants public policy to assist in its marketing canada has many more important financial pri orities letters to the editor its time to take back roads from drunk drivers on behalf of the madd york region chapter i would like to thank all those who supported us by par ticipating in the madd dash walkathon sponsored by the auroras fitness clubs of canada the walk was organized to raise awareness and funds to help in our mission to stop impaired driving and to support the victims of this violent crime many thanks to both kevin nagle and kerrie kramer for organizing the event i would also like to thank our supporters for donat ing various products and services xllarate sports power fluid vw richmond hill connect us corporation the landscape company inc the era- banner the liberal zan chantik the murphy hockey school bell mobility fr8 design tidal wave promotions and kellogs a special thank you to the dignitaries who attend ed present were oak ridgesmarkham mp lui temelkovski york north mpp julia munro nathan mcmillan on behalf of yorksimcoe mp peter van loan janesse mcphillips on behalf of oak ridges mpp frankklees chief armandlabarge and aurora mayor tim jones thanks also to lois brown a longtime madd supporter for attending and sharing the story of her own mother who was killed by a drunk driver keynote speaker marilyn bobel was riveting as she shared the life and death of her only son we heard about the heartwrenching circum stances surrounding stevens death she shared how a drunk driver more than double the legal bac level sped along gorham street at 122 kmh upon running a red light the offender crashed into her sons car stevens aorta separated from his heart and he vio- editorial editor jim mason jniasonyrngcom assistant editor rick vanderlinde rvanderlindcymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsymgcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrngcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauyrngcom retail manager staceyallen sallenymgcom new business development manager mike rogerson mrogcrsonymgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrngcom editorial 9056402612 fax9056408778 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353fax 9058531765 distribution 9052942200 cscudba orcumjons audi bond matter ontario pica council suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper die suntribune 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 hid and thomhill vaughan citizen the economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yonvegioncom and york regno printing the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must indude 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 6290 main st stouffville l4a 167 email jmasonyrngcom or fax 9056408778 lently bled to death she said stevens memory was insulted when the thirdtime offender who killed him served only 10 months for his crime upon entering the courtroom the offender gave mrs bobel the middle finger the tliirdtime offender who killed my only son has since reoffend ed she stated as a parent it is impossible to comprehend having to bury your own child losing a spouse is like losing a piece of your heart but when you lose a child you lose a piece of your soul many sincere thanks go to marilyn for her ongoing passion in the fight against this deadly crime every day on average four people are killed in alco holrelated collisions still another 190 people are injured every single day it is a labour of love both to our communities and the memories of our loved ones so many need not face that massive void as loved ones are prematurely wrenched from their lives at the hands of selfish irre sponsible criminals impaired driving is no accident it is a deadly choice impaired driving is 100percent preventable margaret williams president madd york region off the top with jim mason get ready to drive in a roundabout way stouffville motorists we ventured into uncharted territory last week and uncovered an amazing dis covery a roundabout in the suburban wilds of stouffville blimey mates there it was on the western extension of millard street where it meets west lawn crescent at first blush it could be any other stouffvillian intersection two streets meet but there are no stop signs just a series of yields and theres a circular structure in the middle of it all that no soccer mom or dad in the fiercest of suvs should tackle this will be nothing new to those of you who have driven in great britain or watched the carry on movies youve seen vehicles do this circular dance enter the roundabout and then exit at the appropriate time a game of musical chairs using cars sort of theyve been big in britain particu larly in the past 40 years and theyre get ting larger in north america they accomplish a lot of things according to the engineering communi ty for starters they save gas and help the environment no ones idling his gas guz zler waiting for a traffic light or the inter section to clear they also calm traffic a buzz term if there ever was one in modern suburbia lead foots cant hightail it through when there are cars to watch for and a concrete structure to avoid as a result they actually reduce colli sions who knew unless i missed it there were no public meetings to discuss bringing roundabouts to stouffville somewhere in between the multitude of sessions on the fate of the old town hall there had to be some time available council and how about sessions on mastering the roundabout for those of us who are relative virgins at this game heres hoping it works millard and hoover park drive to the south are sup posed to be trafficmoving alternatives to main street my scouts tell me theres at least one more roundabout in the subdivision across the tenth line from the stouffville country market a spokesperson for the town was not available to talk round abouts even in a roundabout way the secret to roundabout success remember to keep to the right and keep moving you dont want to recreate that simpsons episode where homer and the gang get stuck in a british roundabout then smash into the queens carriage carry on stouffville jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune