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llf t6 ecpmmis suni stduffsflie trlbmtuaji irtl9b8 i fc- editorial x a transit taskfpirce has work ait oat j its no secret that york regions public transipser- l txice isa mess v not only do less than 5 per cent of the regions j- more than half a million people use public transit q dont link- without cross bus routes it is near impos- tsible for someone living at one end of the region to work in another end but things are going to get better says the regions transit task force which met last week the meetings proved to be the first significant move to actually i improve this dismal situation a situation which will only get worse as the population swells to its forecasted 12 million by 2020 k r- the committee hasa target toget one of the population using pubic transit thats a far cry from the targeted seven per cent four years ago when york region passed its official plan and its a far cry from the drop in transit use today at about 4 percent this taskforce hopes to come up with real ways of getting transit towork better by theend of january some of trie biggest deficiencies noted include go transit offpeak service to downtown torohtoserying markham unionville milliken and tstouffville areas no continuous east- west service to vaughan especially to industrial areas v gaps in service between markham and richmond hill 1 the deficiencies were determined after meetings with the five transit managers in their municipalities and are based on discussions with transit users as well as general observations the committee says major trip destinations in york region mclude paramount canadas vbnderlandhqspitsmdustrial areas business f parks and the yonge street arid hwy7 corridors and u service needs to be greatly improved tp accomnio- date this need while theinformation is preliminary and open for discussion its good to see a taskforce setup to deal with this very real problem y as it stands now most people cant be bothered using regional transit because of the many road- blocks which prevent an efficient journey from point ja to point busers often need transfers suffer long- waits arid wajufirifn one route toaiiother in some peases the service simply doesnt exist z thislcqmrhittee has its work cut out as it attempts to hike ridersriip by 28 per cent and works torebuild an almost nonexistent service v without seamless transit and as growth contin- 1 ues in and around the region- it is imperative we link arid unify oiir bus services v a cheers jeers letters to the editor tree bylaw longoverdue how can we take it seriously when whitchurchsfouffville council says it wants a bylaw to stop developers from removing trees just days before the hoopla over the trees on ninth line being removed is genuine but some of the other coun ties the longer we wait the worse shape theybecome the more expensive they will be to maintain and the higher lia bility they become to the town i congratulate councillor sue sherban for her efforts and i know she i cillors needoshow some backbone and back her up i you have been there fora year now start standing up andearnthe respect i know some of you are capable of i tt mikewatson musselmans lake- councilpassed the clearcutting of two large formerly protected mature wqodlots and a portion of a third hard- wood forest as a part of the schickendahz development s in ballantrae this prpjecthasenoughspace that the forests could have been preserved residents pleaded to- have them saved but to no avail council choseto destroy them and the habitafuieypro- patient savs vide k j x councu has a moral responsibility to one hears so much negative corn- treat every developer and constituent ment regarding all aspects of our healdi equally vi care system that i am compelled to it has also been a proven fact that relate my recerit experience when town staff recommends preserve after being diagnosed as heeding an ing these areas it is not wise to vote operation which was performed at against mat recommeridatiori vmarkham striuflviue hospital i have local hospital is firstrate s it just me or is the grand wel- come home for convicted kidnap- pers christine lamont and david spencer a little over the top v the canadian couple who initially denied any knowledge of or involve menfjinthe of a brazilian busihessmari was kept in the basement of the sap paolo home they hdieasedrwere convicted of the crime 4nd served time in a horrible brazilian jail they lateradmitted their participa tion in the crime andso were rightly in jail ibut unhappy in their brazuian lock up the coupleand their families back home lobbied for their transfer to canadian jail lamont and spencereven under cook hunger- strikes to further their cause finally brazilian officials agreed to send the couple home to serve the last stage of their nineyear sentences they will in all likelihood be free in ayear or so their brazilian criminal record a thing of the past at the airport they were greeted by weepy family members- who said it was- a shame that lamont and spencerwere incarcerated separately for- so long that they loved each other so much and it- was sad they couldnt be together right away i can only imagine how traumatic it must be to have a family member incarcerated ifi a foreign country who knows how the prispriers are really treated y k but the fact is if yqii commit a crimeat home or afrroad you should be prepared to pay the price for it if you are caught- 0 j j- it seemed to me from the newspa per and television stories that lamont arid spencer arid theihiamilies fiave dismissed ttecrimethey committed they seem to want v believe it never iui umnmuikimuiiu v r jl occurred andthat they are entitled to it is great to see the subjectof a tree nothingbut the very highest praise for the sarrie fights arid freedoms you and i lawcomeupditisl6ng6yemue involwd rriy general j hayethepr cheers to both the york region district school board and its teachers for finally reaching a deal r- fdr a few years anyway -7- p cheers to the province for committing more thari 12 billion for 20000 lorigterrri becls for new cuitieacrosvontario riextsevenyears j york region wijl get420 fieds irrimediately and 97 b however council has the authonty i to waive itsownbylaws and hasexer- cised this authority on many occasions over the years v what we need is a mayor and a council with the actual irioral power and backbone to treat everyone equally when exercising bylaws if council really cares about trees it sjhould stop perrhittihg rnass destruc- tion and set up a maintenance pfbgramr for the ones we have on town proper practitioner my specialistsurgeon ahd all the cloctors nurses and auxiliary staff at the hospital r t was treated very promptly and effi- j ciently in all respects and come to the r conclusion that i am very fortunate to j have had the firstclass care and attend tioifthat i received in markham my thanks again to all who treated me it 2 michaelbusse v unionville j privilege to exercise theyre chrninajs for heavens sake- they chose to commit a heinous crirrie they viqlateci an individuals right to freedqrri v- their litany of demands from that perspectivetis offerisive they want to be jailed close to home they want to be togemenmeywanttobefreei rhow pathetic they areand how pathetic we are for treating them as some kind wrong of sad love story gone frhillibri for new longterm care faculties arid exparidvj wmwjrwp v ed community care v tt t- freepi zjt vwvat t i- -lvc-t-v- minor leersitomarkham stoufrville hdsdital for tum v sermnp thptnrnmunitv eraba the stouflville tribune published every tuesday thursday arid saturday isone of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajaxpictenng newsadvertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian i burlington shopping news burtington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror advocatecountiy routes etobfcoke guardian 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