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f s economist suntribune news tuesday jan 18 2000 students preach education to save canadian identity bymikeadler staff writer canadians must act to preserve their culture or accept that they are only a nation of shoppers canadian author and nationalist maude barlow told students in markham last week leadership in this new century is coming not from politicians but from teachers health care workers envi- ronmental activists and most imppr tantly young people barlow told a student symposium at milliken mills high school are we citizens first or consumers first she asked senior students who had gathered to give their views on canadian culture the six student representatives argued strong action is needed to save a canadian view of the world canadian culture is in a state of emergency declared priya malik 18 an oac student the three classes called for increas ing canadian content in media par ticularly in childrens programming and more support for canadian pub lishing and the cbc they said canadian history and environmental studies courses should be mandatory throughout high school and all immigrants applying for citizenship must attend cultural pjb8p55 staff photomike barrett economic nationalist maude barlow addresses a canadian culture conference at milliken mills high school last thursday classes and they also said canada should cancel the north american free trade agreement a deal barlow fought as the head of a nationalist leftleaning group the council of canadians since only a small part of cyber space is canadian said oac student christeena samuel 18 its important to create more canadian search engines and canadian home pages for companies on the internet canadians need canadian sites she argued if theres no mention of canada we will vanish into cyber space mayor on track with towrft pool plan from page 1 cost taxpayers about 200000 it will put a freeze on the entire project since weather is a critical factor when dealing with construction the chance to build this year could be lost emmerson said if its not built this year i think its lost theres a window of opportunity here we have to begin no later than september were one year behind schedule now he said while the omb hearing may threaten the complex the chances of stouffville being taken in by amalga mation could alter the governing of the town including the fate of this pro ject emmerson said still the mayor is going full steam ahead tonight beginning at 7 pm at the municipal headquarters on sandiford drive architects maclennan jaunkalns and miller will give a project update which includes a plan to expand the fourlane pool to six lanes information will also be given on a water slide a ramp and an extra 1000 square feet for the library tan brown brick with some red brick is planned for the exterior of the 31000-square- foot twin complex a great majority of residents wants this complex emmerson insisted after a number of studies and dur ing a number of site searches the town looked at building the new complex on lands at stouffville district secondary school at stouffville recreation complex and at the soon to be built ballantrae golf and country club parking problems prohibited the high school and the recreation com plex from being used while the ballantrae development would put restrictions on public use emmerson said as for building on to the existing library the local conservation authori ty has expressed concern because the library site is on a flood plain emmerson said as well adding on to the existing library would be a costly venture library operating costs now at 700000 a year would exceed 1 million a year within five years we can run it for less at the new library emmerson said the new site has great potential the mayor stressed its the ticket for young families its a five- or six- minute walk from the downtown it could include soccer baseball dia monds squash tennis or general fit ness and its operating cost can be better controlled under one roof if afamily comes tothe centre one member could go for a swim while the other could enjoy a book at the library emmerson said its dual purpose joan ransberry investing in farming must be a priority if theyre the backbone of the country how come the aver age income of a canadian farmer is 14500 a year in case you think the present farm crisis is none of your business let me ask you a question do you eat not only do you eat the worlds topquality food food prices in canada are among the lowest in the world on sunday when the big names in canadas talent took to the stage at the air canada centre to salute the family farm i was there it was a wonderful allcanadian lineup ronnie hawkins gordon lightfoot sylvia tyson michael burgess burton cummings randy bachman paul gross justin hines amanda stott wide mouth mason sue medley fred eaglesmith fred penner big sugar kevin parent prairie oyster sharon lois and bram and the toronto symphony orchestra the countrys top stars played for us they played for each other and most importantly they played for 200000 canadian familyfarms most canadians are removed from the realities in the rural and farming communities we need to see the powerful contri bution to the culture and to the economy and we need to be reminded that 95 per cent of all farms in canada are family farms still many farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy with a salary of 14500 im not surprised last week ottawa announced it would pony up 1 billion over the next two years to help cashcrunched farmers particu- larly grain and oilseed producers its too little too late the critics are saying the critics are right reinvesting in agriculture must be a national priority canada will get on board when canadians insist first canadians must learn about the industry and the peo ple who formits foundation at the farm tribute when the masters of ceremony and the entertainers spoke of life on the farm the hardship the ongoing struggle with hopelessness the hard hard work and the isolation i thought back to my childhood the best time of my life corn hay grain and children grew well on our 250acre family farm still for my farmer parents it was backbreaking work with very little return like many of the farmers attending sundays tribute my parents never gave up and they never gave in farmers possess a spirit that simply cant be found off the farm when i sat beside my dad in the air canada centre i could nt have been more proud canadas best entertainers were not only singing for him they were singing about him its about time my father has been a farmer forever a dairy farmer for 37 years dad will soon mark his 20th year as a beef farmer like the energizer bunny this farmer just keeps going my dad is however worried about the future of the canadian family farm heres mac ransberrys advice farmers need to break the silence they need to place shyness aside and ask their fellow canadians to help keep us on the farm as well all canadians should consider their food source and when canadian talent takes to the stage be there