The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune the region thursday march 2 2000 11 public forums a sham task force has mandate to ban smoking chairperson says by lisa queen staff writer a week after the president of the markham board of trade complained public forums into york regions proposed smoking ban are a sham at least two members of the task force agreed the process is biased staged is probably an understatement ive never seen such a poorly run meeting said richmond hill councillor janet mabley referring to the meeting in her town feb 17 one member of the audience was dressed as batman acting as a crusader for people s health it was nothing short of a dog and pony show it was undemocratic it was a total sham as far as i was concerned i am very disappointed one member of the audience was dressed as batman acting as a crusader for peoples health mabley said some business leaders were so upset with the format they will complain formally at next weeks regional council meeting mabley who opposes a total ban on smoking in public places said the meeting was slanted so those who support the prohi bition were given the upper hand the public does not have faith in this committee its a zealous point of view mabley also complained vaughan councillor joyce frustaglio chairperson of the task force has indicated the ban is a per sonal crusade because she has suffered from cancer youre supposed to be neutral mabley said i think your view is very jaundiced but frustaglio rejected claims the meet ings have shut out residents and business owners who oppose the ban she also pointed out the purpose of the task force is to adopt a smoking ban so nobody should be surprised that she and the committee are advocating the prohibition i dont think were neutral our mission statement is to bring forward a uniform smokefree bylaw for the region of york frustaglio said i have received more calls saying you guys are doing a great job thank you for moving forward on this dont let the minor ity force you to stop mabley and frustaglio have been publicly butting heads over the smoking ban for sev eral months and georgina councillor john hastings a member of the task force is sick of it come on kids come on children he said i just cant believe this theres obviously a conflict between you two ladies first of all i wish you would settle it in another room and get back to the issue at hand but mabley isnt the only task force mem ber concerned about the committee or its meetings richmond hill chamber of commerce executive director barb scollick who was appointed to the task force last fall after busi nesses complained they had no representa tion is also upset you guys have made up your minds its a done deal she said it the richmond hill meeting was a dog and pony show i was mortally embarrassed to be sitting at the front of the room at the committee table stouffville bar owners contemplate smokeban suit by ioan ransberry staff writer the town ofwhitchurchstouffville could be dragged into court if bar and restaurant owners are forced to make their customers butt out an umbrella type nosmoking law will be in place in york region by 2004 if a task force is successful in getting all nine municipalities to adopt an acrosstheboard smoking ban graham hoad owner of the laon of stouffville has a message for the regional task force keep your nose out of private business hoad said hed like to see task force mem bers put their money where their mouths are and open a nonsmoking bar hoad along with kathy and grant fullerton of fullertons place on main street promises to continue to fight the proposed 100percent smoking ban stouffville restaurant and bar owners are looking to form a group and take the munic ipality to court if a strict smoking ban becomes law it would be a tough go to do it alone but we could form a consortium i can see that happening hoad said a lawsuit could very well become a reality grant fullerton said i can see it happening absolutely id sue were getting pushed around in the long run restaurant and bar owners will lose the fight fullerton said sooner or later the government is going to ram this down our throats these people dont care about others they dont give a damn we no longer live in a democracy if they want to be serious about the smoking issue then ban tobacco the federal government wont do wayne emmerson mayor seeks compromise to buttout ban that because of the lovely tax this is a joke kathy fullerton wants government offi cials to take a compromise position instead of bringing in hardhitting legislation insist ing that a smoking ban will spell financial hardship for bar and restaurant owners she suggests the town look at air filtration systems for local establishments a citizens group including bar owners in western ontario recently launched a lawsuit against kitchenerwaterloo claiming a new smokefree bylaw is causing financial hard ship the owner of a waterloo bar said hes lost 36000 in the past two months due to the fact that his patrons can no longer smoke the proposed smoking bylaw is on a bumpy road at least in whitchurch- stouffville said mayor wayne emmerson but he said hes hopeful that a workable compromise can be reached bloomington gospel church fp 13660 ninth line south of 47 highway formerly bloomingtonrd pastor dr john howarth sunday march 5th 2000 945 am sunday school 11 00 am communion service fasting that is a farce matthew 6 16- 18 630 pm evening service everyone welcome t mmm springvale b baptist church hi v stouffville rd at kennedy rd y m 8875651 senior pastor bob hemming associate pastor bill thornton associate pastor student ministries brian gsimcoe worship music coordinator heather thornton childrens ministries coordinator sharon russell march 5th 2000 945 am adult bible class 945 am 1100 am message series i peter gods survival manual pastor- bob flemming 600 pm home fellowship groups for more info call church office stouffville baptist church a fellowship church 6273 main street pastor gordon m maccormack 905 sunday march 5th 2000 toronto baptist seminary day 1000 am sunday school 1100 am worship service sunday school worship music all under the leadership of ibs join us for prayer- wed 730 pm nothing can be accomplished until we take the first step god bless- we care ml imliillil hh mm 11111 unm vivian baptist church 4733543 on hwy 48 at vivian rd pastor robert okum holding forth the doctrines of grace 945 am sunday school 1100 am morning worship 700 pm evening service t everyone is welcome parkview village 12184 ninth line south stouffville sunday march 5th 2000 pastor ken wellington wideman mennonite church 7 pm auditorium 3 the anglican parish of 3sk- christ church 254 sunset blvd stouffville 6401461 the rev robert a shields the rev phil cooper celebrating 121 years of ministry 18792000 sunday march 5th 2000 last sunday after epiphany 800 am holy communion 1000 am choral eucharist with church school and nursery provided tuesday march 7th pancake supper 57 pm everyone welcome sjouffville penjecosjal crlurck 6853 main st stouffville 6405696 sunday march 5 2000 930 1100 am morning worship 600 pm renewal service with gord greive stouffville united church 34 church st n 6401163 worship minister rev robert nightingale education minister nancy montolth 730 pm friday march 3rd world day of prayor service sunday march sth 1030 am worship pancake lunch following babyfow childrens worships youth pack ever welcome durham community church invites you to come out and worship with us sunday 1030 am enjoy a warm welcome fun fellowship at altona 5460 sideline 30 6404356 wsmm am wideman mennonite church 10530 hwy 48 north of major mackenzie phone 6406219 sunday march 5 945 am worship service 1045 am worship service 6 ken wellington everyone welcome stouffville missionary church 6500 mail st stoufmie phone 6403911 emalsrnccahornecom sunday services discovery service 930 am christian education for all ages celebration service 1100 am watch our sign for special events and opportunities t bringing tbe hope of jesus christ t in a changing world i all wmths welcome