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eekewjat stux otrinion call us at 6402100 or 8529741 fighting racism starts with opening our eyes next friday march 21 is the international day for the elimination of racial dis crimination something we should all stop and take time to think about it seems to me canada is falling further and further away from its reputation as a tolerant and compassionate country for too long weve been able to smugly point our fingers south of the border and say that were not as bad as the americans sadly in some ways were worse racism in the us has been around since before the coun try was founded they know it exists and are at least willing to acknowledge it though it seems theyve done a terrible job of dealing with it in canada we prefer the approach of ignorance is bliss we just pretend it isnt hap pening out of sight out of mind i think we would do better to recognize that there is racism in canada thats a first step what we need to do next however is a bit of an un- cahadian approach instead of setting up a royal commis sion or a brush-it-under-the- carpet task force we need to tackle it on an individual basis institutions be they human rights commissions or com mittees for this that or the other cant solve a problem such as racism because they are trying to dictate solutions viewpoint alan shackleton its hard to dictate the way people think if were going to make things better were going to have to look within ourselves all of us must do this racism is a vicious circle which builds upon itself with one generations victims becoming the next genera tions oppressors bitter parents who suffered the racist taunts of one group or another as children pass on their hatred of that group to their kids and it goes on and on its happening all over the world as many countries fall into the mess of us and them which does nothing but tear their country apart mostly these differences fall along religious lines but the question of race is always a factor so what are we going to do about it we can hold days for the elimination of until the cows come home but change will only happen if people want it to the future is up to us before casually tossing racist accusations around we should stop and think about where this will lead us we should do that every sin gle day but next friday espe cially the tribune weekender edition a metroland community newspaper patriciapappas publisher jo ann stevenson editorinchief andrew ma1r general managereditor debraweller director of advertising barry goodyear director of distribution vivian ffnett business manager pamela nichols operations manager stoijffvtllk all enquiries 905 6402100 fax 905 6405477 6244 main st stouffville ont uxbridge all enquiries 905 8529741 fax 905 8524355 88 brock st w uxbridge ont httpwwwyorkregioncom the tribune published every wednesday and satur day is one of the metroland printing publishing and dis tributing group of community newspapers which includes ajax pickering news advertiser auiston herald barrie advance bramplon guardian burlington post citypar- ent collingwoodwasaga beach connection east york mirror etobicoke guardian georgetown independentacton free press kingston this week lind say this week midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion mississauga news newmarketaurora erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver orillia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peter borough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror todays seniors contents not to be reproduced without written permission from the publisher permit 1247 the publisher reserves the right to refuse or classify any advertisement credit for advertisement limited to space error occupied the weekender is a member of the ontario press council bmm1bm hbsb were raising money for g55jm tourists say the dumbest things can you believe this weath er weve got winter on the run the days are getting longer and warmer the car actually starts in the morn ing without whining and moaning you know what this means dont you summer is just around the corner folks summer that means tourists i know that tourism is a muchneeded shot in the arm for the canadian economy if this year is anything like the last well have some 20 mil lion visitors checking in through the welcome to canada turnstiles and by the time they leave their wallets will be lighter to the tune of some 5 billion so no mistake about it tourists editors mail safe driving a community responsibility dear editor i have seen the wreckage of six fatal car acci dents in the past eight months i feel com pelled to write about this carnage as speeding and unsafe passing continue unabated why is this form of violent death so under- reported when so much media attention is given to other violent acts three of these were singlecar accidents one being a new corvette driven by a young man not bringing home the serious consequences of unsafe driving contributes to a feeling of invincibility car advertising is irresponsible too appealing to the headiness of speed and a sense of rugged individualism accidents are so quickly cleaned up victims taken to morgue or hospital if the accident is not fatal there is never a followup report on the injured when one hears the sobering words taken to hospital with serious head injury one does not hear about the lifelong consequences the injured simply disappear from sight as they and their families struggle to cope i just read a newspaper writeup on a five- month investigation into the unfortunate toronto indy accident this past summer there was a list of expensive recommendations to help prevent a recurrence it strikes me that this is a risky sport and while it should be made as safe as possible there seems to be far less analysis and modification of accident sites occurring in the general public two in my immediate area have involved a vehicle going through a stop sign and striking another vehicle maybe we should install warning bumps or larger stop signs where a sideroad intersects a through road but the biggest necessity is awareness shaving a few seconds off your commuting time is hardly worth jeopardizing your life and others driving is potentially deadly and we all have a communal responsibility in taking it seri ously it is not a lark barbara simpson are important and valued but my they can be dumb i have a theory about tourism i believe that an actual genetic change occurs when an average citizen sloughs off his everyday iden tify to become a rubberneck- er with a pocketful of travel ers cheques and a camcorder on hisher shoulder im not sure about all the biological ramifications of this change but im convinced it involves the loss of at least 20 iq points art linkletter wrote a famous book entitled kids say the darndest things somebody needs to write one called tourists say the dumbest things a worker in the toronto tourism office remembers a call she fielded that went like this caller can we get tickets to a performance of beauty and the beast this after noon attendant yes you can sir caller how long is the afternoon performance attendant it lasts three hours sir caller whoa thats way too long how long does the evening show last it gets dimmer the folks who run the calgary conven tion and visitors bureau have been asked everything from what time do you turn the northern lights on to is your civil war over yet the alltime moststunned question probably one that they get about a tourist site outside of town just south of calgary there is a heritage park called head-smashed- in buffalo jump this is basic black iiii- fti ttwi arthur black where indians once hunted buffalo by stampeding them over a cliff and two or three times a year some american tourist in bermuda shorts and a flowered shirt will approach a park attendant and ask what time do you run the buffalo off the cliff not that americans have anything like a monopoly in the tourist moron depart ment we canadians more than hold our own when we go abroad ask any floridian canadi ans are famous in the sun shine state they call us snowbirds thats because each winter we descend in flocks of thousands to roost in semitropical splendor while we wait for canada to become habitable again which explains floridas favorite bumper sticker it reads when i get old im going to move to canada and drive slow oh those floridians have got our number i remember a wisecracking waitress in a restaurant in daytona beach while i was paying my bill she said youre canadian aincha i said i was and asked her how she could tell she said well i could tell you wasnt a canoe she said a canoe i said yup cuz a canoe tips