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r economist sunihbune saturday nov 27 1999 m stouffville tribune a metxoland community newspaper 37 sandiford dr suite 306 stoufiville ont l4a 7x5 publishen ian proudfoot general manager alvin brouwer editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra weller deputy editor debora kelly classified manager ann campbell editor alan shackleton retail sales manager stephen mathieu production director chert kay inside sales manager stacey allen distribution director barry goodyear business manager margaret fleming online publishing manager brian kirlik office manager vivian oneil letters markham intolerant to christian evangelists reader claims recent personal experience has affirmed to me that the town of markham the public steward of our municipality is intolerant toward christian evangelism on town proper- ty but will tolerate offensive public profanity and other objectionable behaviour at centennial arena this perversion of public policy by our municipal government ought to be outra geous to any fellow citizens who value social decency and human rights as canadians each friday evening i and a few other christians have been handing out free evan gelical literature to people entering centennial arena for the markham waxers junior hockey games many people have taken the literature while others as they are free to do have declined the literature contains thoughtpro voking messages about the subjectof life after death offering direction how to be certain of an eternity in heaven instead of hell after the games short messages were preached to peo ple as they left the arenas in response many young people and some adults asked ques tions or commented about what they read or heard wanting to talk further what is so disturbing about thfs is that the town of markham prohibits our actions on public property even though people have the- freedom to refuse the literature if they wish under no circumstances was anyone harassed nor was anyone obstructed from entering the arena yet we were requested to stop by arena employees because of some complaints yet these same employees will permit disr gusting and profane language yelled by some fans at the referees visiting players their coaches or trainers even at other fans with total disregard for children present how can they justify such a glaring moral contradiction in addition the towns policy is i submit a flagrant denial of the right of freedom of reli gion and freedom of speech on public proper ty owned by markham taxpayers such as myself these are rights which are enshrined in our canadian charter of rights and freedoms it is consequently thelegal responsibility of all levels of government jn canada including the town of markham to uphold these constitu tional guarantees for all citizens in a truly opinion democratic nation although some may hot like or agree with the message we espouse which is their right that is not justifiable reason to deny either the right of one to freely express their religious beliefs on public property nor for others to be denied the right to hear them that is intoler ance and hypocrisy john r merrick markham public sector has its own view of pay raises teachers union leader earl manners and york district school board chairperson bill crothers were recently quoted as saying everybody gets pay raises the employees at maple leaf foods in saskatchewan should be so lucky those work ers were forced to take a substantial cut in their 25000 pay cheques to save their jobs and pre vent the closing of the plant you see financial help was not forthcoming from the provincial ndp government and tax payers simply because the plant processed food and not cars or students the union lead ers at this location had to swallow their mili tant pride and recommend the workers accept the pay cuts a far cry from demanding wage increases this action goes to illustrate that workers in the private and public sectors inevitably have options open to them j shaw markham why cant forensic experts determine angle of fatal shot it seems unbelievable and bizarre that three forensic experts are unable to determine the angle and distance from which york regional police officer bob wiche fired his gun on june 19j 1996 the night faraz suleman died the following facts in the case have been established the type and model of the jeep cherokee the specifications of gun and bullet the recov ery point of the bullet casing the left drivers window which was shattered by the gunshot and which was partially reconstructed the point of entry of the bullet into sulemans neck the pathologist commented that with all this information it should be just a matter of geometry to determine the angle and distance of fire this piece of date is crucial to the inquest now taking place into sulemans death because it would determine whether wiche was out of danger when the shot was fired the coroheps jury would therefore be in a better position to determine the cause of sulemans tragic death arid make appropriate recommendations to prevent a repeat of another surely in our hightech computerdriven society the answer should be easy or is there a deliberate willingness to leave the issue clouded and the matter unresolved dennis doyle markham letters policy stoufiville thbune 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 letters4stoufftribcom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 ee3 dde canadian circulations i audit board member ontario press council stoufiville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing lid group of newspapers which includes the ajatf pickering news advertiser allison heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this 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successful at least five times since i joined the cool crowd at the knowitall age of 14 that was 23 years ago a total of about 60000 cigarettes and 9500 later im a light smoker lucky for me when i think about how exciting and grownup it was to sneak but and smoke as a teen i worry that the lure for kids today is likely just as strong 3 puffing on a cigarette got you looks of approval from the in crowd a neces sary first step in walking away from those boring stigmatic goodie two shoes except the in crowd then is in many cases the buttolurich bunch today looking back it was the socalled geeks of yesteryear that are the high income earners the alluring and the strong the powerful leaders of today most of the geeks spent lunch hours in the library on the sports field or read ing in the school hallways they werent cool like us standing outside in the smoking area puffmg one cigarette after another blowing rings into the air and watching the billowing blue smoke stream out of our noses buti digress little did i know then that tobacco giants were counting on innocent kids like me to take that lurid first step that first puff that first purchase and its still the starters today that keep the crops growing and the cash flowing now there is proof after years of vehemently denying such claims that tobacco giants prey oh young smokers yathink they know if a child starts at a young age he is more likely to continue the filthy habit for his whole unhealthy life and behind the scenes puffing his usual hot air is federal health minister allan rock talking about suing canadian tobacco companies for inten tionally luring young children into a powerful deadly addiction if the government really cared about its ybiing people and our countrys future healthcare costs it would enforce an allout ban on tobacco sales in every store across the country it would allow cigarettes to be sold only in liquor and beer stores with tough age restrictions unfortunately young people will continue to light up and take that allur- ing step in the wrong direction but we should be making it as diffi cult as possible to help them make the turn in the meantime tobacco compa nies and governments will continue to rake in a kingsized ransom as long as- our kids continue to light up ft