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economist suntribune thursday nov 25 1999 opinion telephone 905 6402ioo fax 905 6405477 email newsroomstoufftribcom stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 37 sandiford dr suite 306 stouffville ont l4a 7x5 publishen ian proudfoot general manager alvin brouwer editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter deputy editor debora kelly classified manager ann campbell editor alan shackleton retail sales manager stephen mathieu production director cherikay inside sales manager stacey allen distribution director barry goodyear business manager margaret flem ing online publishing manager brian kirlik office manager vivian oneil editorial region needs to check pace of its growth york region is hiking its population fore casts yet again were growing by 90000 with our popula tion now forecasted to reach the watermark of 119 million residents by 2021 by 2026 we are expected to reach a popula tion of 128 million people its simply a matter of very slight fine tun ing according to john waller the regions director of longrange and strategic planning while growth has not been without its chal lenges for the most part it has given birth to the prosperous and thriving region we are proud to call home yet at this point in time the implications of theminor adjustment are major it could nt have come at a worse time to dismiss the impact of the new numbers as minuscule demonstrates how shockingly out of touch the regions officials are with the residents they serve the dramatic growth combined with cut backs in federal and provincial funding and the downloading of responsibilities has stretched the sensibilities of residents in the official plan report card process the region initiated this year residents made it clear again and again their quality of life has been affected negatively by the seemly haphazard and uncontrolled growth spurt topping the litany of problems is a trans portation crisis of major proportions no longer can our municipalities boast about their recreational facilities and programs children are going to school in portables our hospitals and health services are stretched to the limit with healthcare providers struggling to meet demand with resources that are not keeping pace the region has two choices it can take con trol of growth listen to residents concerns identify the growing crisis in service provision and slow the pace or it can turn the reins of power over to the developers who appear to be truly in control of york regions growth its not simply a growth issue itsaleader- ship issue and residents want leaders who put quality of life before developers demands so youre sick and tired of wmegrmkt thats not a crime is itt ivmj letters to the editor hurt the gas companies in their wallets say no to high prices gas companies know that we have to buy gas but i ask you do we need to support their huge profits here is a simple proposal to hurt their wal lets just like they hurt ours when you buy gas do not buy anything else that means no oil windshield or radia tor fluid pop chips cigarettes doughnuts or coffee these side lines at the pump make profit for gas companies if a gas clerk asks you if you want anything else say no not unless gas prices drop heather speck stouffville police do an excellent job protecting residents as a mother i empathize with shaheen kamadia on the death of her son as a long- time and concerned resident of this area i find it disturbing to note that allegations of racism have been made have people lost sight of the fact that the young man was involved in criminal activi ties our police force does an excellent job of serving and protecting would the critics of the manner in which this incident was handled have been as vocal if the police officer had been shot and killed sulemans mother attempted to halt her sons behaviour by bringing her knowledge of his actions to the attention of the police i can understand that she is having a difficult time living with the end result what i cannot comprehend is why certain factions are now making unfair and i believe untrue allegations against the police i hope that everyone will make a very real attempt to see that this is not about race but rather that it has everything to do with obey ing the laws of our country jrimmer markham amalgamation survey results were unscientific re survey says two cities nov 18 residents of york region want no such thing and it borders on irresponsibility not to say outright lobbying for your newspaper to make such a claim based on what is nothing more than a showofhands poll of metroland readers a survey of 60 of auroras 41000 popula tion 105 of newmarkefs 65000 population 103 of richmond hills 120000 92 of markhams 190000 29 of stouffvilles 23000 population and similar minuscule propor tions of the regions other municipalities does not constitute a scientific opinion survey it is no reflection whatsoever of citizens views on amalgamation in york region stories like this work only to distort the issue geoff mccaffrey aurora letters policy stouflvilte tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 37 sandiford dr suite 306 stouffville ont l4a 7x5 email letterspstoutftribcom stouffville tribune s serving the community since 1888 e3h3 hub canadian circulations i audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mail product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mall 1 year 6955 ouesdays only stouffville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajavpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier bame advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east ftrk mirror erin advocatecountry routes bobicoke guardian flamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week mkjlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakvilte beaver oakvilie shopping news orillia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hqithomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors oxbridge tribune and city of york guardian u6 phone 995 6402100 fax 905 6405477 classified 18007433353 distribution 9056400100 bis iwi iscf tf v ft 3 j j wmm owfc dave teetzel moraine backers must support park financially richmond hill mayor bill bell says there is no topic on which there is so much misun derstanding and misinforma tion as the oak ridges moraine hes probably right all most people know about it is its environmentally sig nificant a lot of it is still undeveloped but not for long if the developers have their way and thats all most people want to know given their druthers most of us would rather preserve forests and meadows than have another subdivi sion spewing traffic on to the roads that may not be an informed opin ion but ifs valid as a purely quality-of- life issue there are strong grounds for leaving a substantial chunk- of nature undisturbed across york region a coalition of environmentalists is calling for the creation of a kettle lakes park that would stretch across the width of richmond hill it would have been a great idea 20 years ago but take a quick trip around the pro posed park and youll see stouffville road the south side of which is lined with housing lake wilcox which is lit erally on life support and had to be closed earlier this year and bond lake which is already being developed of course the only misunderstand- inglocal politicians really care about is the perception that municipal councils arent doirig anything to protect the environment which brings us sadly to the bottom line the proposed kettle lakes park lands are privately owned mostly by developers who dont care whether the land is paradise or a parking lot as long as somebody pays them for it at the cost quoted by the coalition 35000 an acre the 2700acre park would cost 945 million the province and the rouge park alliance recently paid 400000 an acre to buy glen eagles park which would drive the cost of kettle lakes park to 12 billion no municipality has that kind of money lying around saving the moraine will take a substantial contri bution from the federal and provincial governments it will be an uphill battle to create a national or provincial park in york region canada is chock full of natural areas just as beautiful as the oak ridges moraine the fact they arent in the gta is likely to be seen by the feds as a local problem so maybe ifs time those of us who want to save the moraine put our money where our mouth is instead of staging protests raise money to buy up moraine land school children mark earth day by buying up amazon rainforest t maybe they should shift their j fundraising to act locally