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economist suntribune thursday feb 172000 s stouffviue tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 opinion telephone 905 2942200 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom publisher ian proudfoot general manager alvin brouwer editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter deputy editor debora kelly editor julie caspersen production director cheri kay distribution director barry goodyear online publishing manager brian kirlik classified manager ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager staceyallen business manager margaret fleming office manager vivian oneil editorial york regions healthcare system must he protected hospital officials are pondering a big ques tion as municipal councils throughout the region consider merging with each other or other municipalities will amalgamation affect funding and the hospitals ability to provide quality service to residents if york region disappears and borders change so that there are two cities or three cities moulded from its nine municipalities will hospital funding be negatively impacted and consequently will york regions health care crisis be magnified amalgamation issues have created valid concerns for municipal councils regarding ser vices cost efficiencies and how mergers will affect the quality of life for residents its only reasonable to raise the issue of health care and the hospitals ability to provide service in changing times york region previously provided funding to its regional hospitals through the collection of development charges now the region may provide funds for its hospitals a percentage of what the hospitals truly need by debenturing the costs if that option was not available because york region ceased to exist would there be a problem whatever the outcome of amalga mation discussions healthrcare services should not feel a negative impact at all it should not be permitted to happen much to their credit the hospitals have already demonstrated a willingness to work together to determine how best to provide ser vice in this rapidly growing region for exam ple dialysis mri services and cardiac care are all regional programs offered by one of the three centres but serving all of yorks citizens in trying circumstances a lack of appro priate funding the provinces inability to carry out its important restructuring initiatives and the demands of growth our hospitals have attempted to pool their resources so that resi dents are not lacking quality health care as the province points its finger at the fed eral government for a reduction in needed transfer payments to help pay for healthcare services citizens must demand action from mpps and mps to ensure health care in york region is protected and nurtured letters to the editor liberal governments ineptitude cousens suggestion to buy no longer shocks retiree oak ridges moraine inspired i am an 86yearold retiree living on inter est from savings pensions and annuitees i hasten to aver that this letter is not about poverty i have more monthly income than i care to spend among my annuitees is one with the gov ernment that yields me the princely sum of 1921 monthly a few years ago hrdc human resources development corporation wrote asking me if i would agree to accept one prepaid payment at the start of each year instead of 12 payments of course they said the annual payment would be a few dollars less because of the prepayment feature never mind that the gov ernment would be saving a lot of paperwork and 11 stamps i wrote them back that they had a lot ofenerve to even suggest reducing such a miniscule annuity even further now i see that this is the same branch of the government that has mishandled to put it charitably 1 billion to 3 billion of taxpay ers money am i shocked no i have long since stopped being surprised at the level of inepti tude and corruption systemic to this liberal government and its bureaucrats bernard lewis thornhill i applaud markham mayor don cousens inspired proposal for using surplus york region funds toward purchasing the oak ridges moraine i would only beg the support of the other mayors and councillors to follow his leader ship and do the right thing it is the eleventh hour and not a moment too soon for saving the lungs and kidneys of this critically sensitive area it is an organic entity not a lifeless commodity who would deny the funds necessary to intervene in saving the life of any individual if it meant that individual would survive and lead a healthy productive and long life some have taken instead to arguing for helping that individual cope with hisher ter minal disability by way of funding inhouse modifications and convalescent care i believe these arguments belie some extreme ly selfish negligent and myopic motives the hour is late and the time to act is now we have the means to make a sizable differ ence all that is called for is a consensus in favour of life over greed marie bombardier markham letters policy stouffville 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 utters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham 0nl up 1m3 email letters9econsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 he3 dde canadian circulations 1 audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mail product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mal 1 year 16955 tuesdays 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 ajaxpictering news advertiser ahiston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobicote guardian flamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingston this wfeek lindsay this week mktlandpenetangulshene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york minor oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillla today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week- richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbridge tribune and city of york guardian phone 95 2942000 fax 90s 2941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 905 2948244 debora kelly overtaxed at the pumps about to he taxed on the roads more than 36 billion thats the kitty the province managed to collect in gas taxes and licensing fees last year a person naive to the ways of govern ment a sensible person you could say might assume that money should be used to alleviate the transportation cri sis facing our province particularly in greater toronto yet according to the caa only 37 per cent of roadrelated revenue is used on roads gta politicians along with the chambers of commerce and canadian automobile association called on the province last spring to spend gas taxes on what they are collected for road construction and repair queens park continues to insist it has the right to decide what the priorities are for revenues collected as gas taxes the province is again taking the heat from the caa and truckers this week at its gas price task force hearings not the headlines the tories were hoping for im sure oh that hurts with pump prices for regular gas at 689 cents a litre oh that hurts the campaign to increase spending on high way ijifrastructure and cut gas taxes has been fuelled with new furor of every litre of gas sold in ontario about 13 billion yearly 29 cents is taxes with 147 cents going into ontarios coffers 10 cents excise to ottawa and 42 cents gst according to the caa the combined tax bite is 80 per cent of the untaxed price of gas rather than give up its cash cow the province has another solution let them pay tolls not that im counting or anything but in my opinion ive paid the price for my driving habit see above figures treasurer ernie eves laid out the red carpet to privatesector road builders last week inviting them to join the province in any major new highway construction visions of toll highways are dancing in their heads there is the niagara expressway planned between fort erie and the queen elizabeth way near hamilton for instance as well as a route linking windsor and the gta you could even add toll laneways to our congested highways eves suggest ed twotier driving thats all we need what we do need and it has been said before on this very page is a national transportation plan which must include permanent funding for highways and public transit using gas taxes to provide funding for roads buses and trains is a fair and sensible solution whose time has coma