t v it r f ii r vi i ji- 1 a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 i s telephone 905 2942200 4l6 7987624 t fax 905 2941538 s email- riewro6mecbnunt6m publisher an prbudfoot general managen alvinbrouwer editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter r deputy editor dehorn kelly editor c jim mason production pam nichols distribution director barry goodyear online publishing v manager 1 margaret fleming classified manager 1 ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager istacey allen business manager roblazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial fast on the heels of a municipal election youre being drawn to the polls once again to mark your preferences federally the plethora of municipal signs may have cleared the landscape but your local concerns have not remember that on monday before you head out to mark your ballot for the federal candidate of your choice you should consider where the candidates stand on the following issues health carefget beyond the rhetoric ask yourself if your concerns about health care have more to do with quality and accessibility of service than they do about rich people buy- ingmris in buffalo ask yourself if the political party youre planning to support has addressed our local needs weve been trum peting it for years york region is one of the fastest growing regions in canadawheres the supporbfrom- fiederaland provincial sources for ahealtiicare system thatis -collapsing- undefthe burden of demand is the candidate of your choice willing to fight for your local needs or is yourcandidate likely to be ah acquiescent back-bencher- transit and transportation ask yourself this question why am i forcecmo choose an overburdened overcrowded highway for commuting when in most countries there is an effective rapid transit system in place to deal with thecommuter traffic generated by a community like ours whereare the addition al routes where are the northsouth trains environment were sitting on one of ontarios most sensitive environmental areas ask the candidates what ttieywudojtdhelp protect our environment and what they will do to further some ofpur more sensitive causes such as keele valleys imminent closure taxation what is jthepartys plan to reduce taxation howcan the partyfind a more palat- able and equitable plan to reduce taxes and finance the services we have come to expect of our government accountability easily the most important issue for voters in any election campaign the accountability of the candidate isnt just a key factor in getting elected its a key factor in maintaining support and respect yquhave to askyoiirself the following ques tions dp i believe rriy candidate will truly work on my behalf or will the candidate work at the behest of the party leader would the candi date be accountable to me cw to the party ifs your right to vote its your responsibility make your mark count letters to the editor much more important to vote for the candidate than the party i feel i mustdisagree with gary chungs letter in the economist sun more impor tant to vote for the party than the candidate nov 21 i believe it is extremely important to vote for the right candidate regardless of which party they represent i believe also the candi date must reside in the riding in which heshe is running not promise to move here only if elected we have two candidates liberal and conservative who want to represent markhani but neither one lives here why not how can we expect them to represent us dont the liberals or conservatives think markham citizens are sb incapable of electing someone living in markham that they must parachute a candidate here to loorafter us mr chung claims jim jones may be the best candidate to represent markhani s wont he vote for him because of the party he represents does he really believe jim jones has siid- denly changed from as a good representative of markham to a wrong choice simply because he changed parties keep in mind that almost every canadian alliance member once belonged to one of the liberal consevative or new democratic par ties they formed a new party out of frustra tion at seeing their leaders dictate how they were able to represent their respective rid ings we all probably voted for canadian alliance members at one time or another to suggest they became bad choices only after changing parries is comical on the subject of twotier health care the liberal party already endorses itin fact some of its members quite often visit private clinics just ask jean chretien when i vote i will be voting for the best candidate who lives in markham now regardless of which party heshe represents and not a candidate that mr chretien or mr clark thinks will win them a seat i want someone to represent me in markhamnot a candidate that will be booted out of their party if they disagree with da boss rick stockton i markham join our online discussion about federal election at yrnqcom readers are invited to express their opin ions on the federal election on candidates promises and onparty platforms by joining our online discussion board at yrngcom a site created by the york region newspaper group talk about who youre going to vote for and why with other readers of the markham economist suhstouffville tribune letters policy stoufmlethbune 1 welcomes your letters all submissions must be less tharr 400 words and must include a daytimejelephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish of not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd f markham 0ncl3p 1m3 email lettereeconsunconv stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 bees canadian circulations audit board member ontario press council canadian pumcabons mab product sates agreement 11403419 subscripted ram tyrrl year 6955 nuesdasordy stouffville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajaxpiekering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror enn advocatecountry routes etoblcoke guardian ftamborough post georgetown independent acton free press kingston this week lindsay thfeweek midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mlsslssauga news newmarket- aurora georgina era banner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver oakvilte shopping news onllia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbridgeiribune and city of york guardian phone 905 2942200 fax 905 2941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 905 2948244 subway lobby has to gain support from all municipal politicians o ur way or the highway its a forceful slogan and one withsome truth for proponents of a sub way tbvaughan our governments can fixour transit crisis or all those big taxpayirig corpora tions just nght hit me highway so last week a group of area politi- cians and yorkl university president lorna marsden launched another lob bying effortto bring the spadina subway to york university then up to jane street andhwy 7 that nine kilometres of subway- is to cost 880 million a third of which is to be covered by the greater toronto services board over thejiext14 years the rest is to come from the federal and provincial governments neither of whom have made any commitment you would think ftinding transporta- tion infrastructure for the gta would be a major plank in the federal election campaign but ive barely heard a word about it so the subway lobby has some work to do the first order of business is to get all the municipal politicians on board this is kinda like herding cats richmond hill arid markham have their own subway proposal which would take the yonge line to hwy 7- from a purely york region perspec tive this makes more sense than the vaughan plan because ifs central for folks in millikeri for exampleit would be faster to drive south to a scarborough lrt station than it would be to make the fmstrating trek west toconcord but from a practical perspective the vaughan proposal is more likely to receive funding- simply because it- serves a university and black creek pioneer village trie jane and hwy 7 tier minus would take people within a short shuttle bus ride of paramount canadas wonderland and vaughan mills mall should it ever be built but a project of this magnitude will require support from toronto toband mel lastman isnt a believer heres how the toronto mayor endorsed the subway extension in the willowdale mirror thatjs fine as long as vaughan will pay theirshare theylye always wanted free rides like theywarit to put up 20 million or something i dont want 20 million pay your share do you get- the idea the old mrniture salesman is looking for a way to tie a subway extension into a york region subsidy for thettc not unlike the deal hegot on social services lastman knows vaughan cant afford to build the subway any more than toronto can the majority of the cost will have to be borne by the province arid the feds and that will take lobby ing from all the municipal politicians in thegtai p m ii- i tr i2tjii l yl isr i irtrjij f j jll i f t t t jt jjrri l