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i- ei v t jh a v v s i ri kwhii i a z te year in editorial a special boxing day edinon 1 imsidf fanning b3 f f i- w- r t iiuiut cartoons the best of combining two community newspapers sports dl basstfiedbs combining two community newspapers ti stolimrlle sun if f j v vrbuffvlue tribune j- cartoonist steve nease f sto uf f v i l l jr vi s t the year in photosctne s fphotojgraphw sjoerd wtteveen v jt- 1 including gst 28 pages ft- wednesday dec 26 2001 to reach us 9052942200 outstanding youth of york region may become tomorrows household names they are the bright shining lights on york regions horizon they are volunteers entre preneurs students and activists they are the young people among us who lead by example and accomplish great things through their efforts they are the future of york region and now at this most appro priate time of year were cele brating these young people in a series of stories that highlight the energy vision and goals that drive young people to stand out among their peers marc iamirande brother andre student helps student environmen talists serve entire community bethany moore stouffville dis quiet secondary school student- is youuaffbrdable housing activist radhikasharma miliiken mills student volunteers atmarkham stouffville hospitals kids ward i carter hayden stouffville resi dent plays a teen thug in his latest movie treed murray medical association district director warns current healthcare funding wontlast patients must prepare for user fees tax increases longer waits will skyrocket without fees doctor by lisa queen w s staff writer j-j- jebalvepuruntojof xahadasjy medicare system f heats up entering 2002 thedis- trict director of the ontario medical association believes canadians should start resign ing themselves to user fees dr timothy nicholas an aurora physician said the exist ing system of funding health care sustainable indefi nitely- health care now eats up 46 per cent of ontarios provincial budget if patients continue to demand highquality health care and the latest medical advancements nicholas said it will be impossible to avoid user fees for some health services without those charges he warned waiting lists will length en or taxes to support the sys tem will skyrocket fees will ruin health care but others argue user fees will spell the ruin of a universal healthcare system revered by canadians nicholas who represents york region and the counties of simcoe and muskoka on the board says patients are not accountable for the health ser vices they use under the current system they can see their family physicians drop into a medical clinic or show up at a hospital emergency room whenever they want nicholas has seen patients turn up at emergency rooms with nonurgent conditions they could have been treated during daytime hours by a fam ily doctor although a poll by the college of family physicians shows twothirds are no longer accepting new patients you have to ask yourself at some time why people come to the emergency department with a sore hand or- foot that theyve had for three weeks he said unfortunately the thing is health care is expensive and somebody has to pay for it there is no accountability by the patient they do not seem to ary when premiers meet to form understand the costs that are a strategy on health care involved and feel they are enti- jc the canada health act out- itlecl everything the system lines rules for rhedicare such as j cant function indefinitely- it requiring provinces to provide a icantvithere arent 5 enoughicomprehensrve range of nied- rttfutidsvl a licallypnecessarylservicesjand framilydoctor for morethart for medically insured services years practised years ago in noya scotia- patients there paid 2 for an j initial visit to the doctor and 1 for a followup visit nicholas feels the fee made them use the healthcare system more responsibly the debate over funding is expected to escalate in late janu- vunderiegislationottawa v cut funding to any province that contravenesthe act but some provincial leaders and other healthcare providers are trying to challenge the inter- pretationof the act nicholas said politicians and taxpayers need to determine which medical services should be classified as basic services that all canadians are entitled to free of charge r yotlier standard services would be subject to a small user jifee yef other services would require a- more substantial tchargerrvv i a nicholas- declined to break down the services into different categories its up to the public to decide he said i think prime minister jean chretien has been somewhat blinded they have wrapped themselves in the canada see hospital page a7 profiles of york region youthpages ci to c7 in the pages of todays paper youll meet markhams peter wight- man a leader in student gov ernment at brother andre catholic i iigh school stoufmlles kenny sandi- ford who quit school at 16 and now runs his own excavating company kareena elliston of unionville who writes and directs plays to raise awareness in young people about black history month clara jordan of stouffville who wants a career in musical theatre after graduating from unionville high school next spring unionvilles stephen weiss who is in the czech republic this week representing canada atthewbriajuhiorrhockey championships the plymouth whaler star hopes to play for the florida panthers in the nhl next winter carolyn burke ofthomhill the nineyearold junior envi ronmentalist has already protested against development on the oak ridges moraine she wants to tell politicians what young people are thinking school boards unions bystefaniarizzr staff writer with such controversial provincial initiatives as teacher recertification and private school tax credits coupled with a looming recession school- board and union authorities are bracing for what could be another tumultuous year over the course of 2001 the tory government passed legisla tion- or introduced numerous initiatives designed to improve the provinces education system and enrich student learning while sonie proposals such as parents being asked to fill out surveys on the state of educa tion can be viewed as positive and welcoming others remain controversial and disheartening although it was passed in june teacher recertification will remain a thorny subject for teachers in 2002 said york regions ontario english catholic teachers association president julie pauleug we would like to see the government revisit the teacher testing legislation said pauletig adding other future challenges teachers face next year are handling pressures associated with the double cohort and continued lack of- fundingfor resources teachers already give 100 per cent and asking them to be recertified when there are nonqualified teachers who dont have to be region tojake leading role in agtawide strategy growirig pains ahead for york population boom requires housing improved transit and infrastructure by jeff mitchell staff writer i york region has the benefits of forward momentum and sound strategic planning as it prepares to move into 2002 and beyond says regional chairper son bill fisch fisch said the region is well positioned to face the chal lenges ahead and continue to provide services to a population that has come to expect them and as the region faces the 21st century the nature of those services and demands on yorks infrastructure becomes more complex we have a 25year growth plan we are in the eighth year of that plan fisch said we have done all of the easy things now comes the hard part that includes strategies for such issues as waste manage- ment affordable housing con- ventional and rapid transit roads and water and sewer infrastructure economic devel opment and managementof the regions astonishing growth- see js page a7 brian tuckey yorks planning commissioner favours smartgrowth philosophies certified is unjust its an attack on teachers professionally who do and care a lot for their stu dents pauletig said about 40000 teachers have been notified they must attend recertification courses some of those teachers she added have retired or passed away the government is not ready for such a program to be in place she said while teacher recertification continues to be at the forefront and vehemently opposed by teacher unions there may be another pieceof legislation that may unnerve and incense teachers bill 110 passed by the gov ernment earlier this month allows students and parents to have input in the appraisal process of teacher evaluations conducted by principals and viceprincipals our biggest issue for 2002 and into 2003 will be to elect a different government said york regions elementary teachers federation president david clegg to have students and par- ents play a role in the perfor mance appraisal without hav- ing any background or qualifi cation to do so and to do that anonymously is quite disturb- ing f i dont know how comfort- see school page a2 voices of 2001 terrorism is never going to- be abolished or suppressed we live in complicated societies where theres always going to be someone who is disgruntled or out of whack and wants to do something drastic canadian journalist gwynne dyer speaking to students at father bressani catlmlic high school about the sept 11 terrorist attacks he certainly hasnt been very helpful to our group to the type of people who would come to our food banks theyre not getting enough money from social assistance to live on they have had to turn to food banks people are coming to rely on food banks as an institution we were going to be a stopgap until things got straightened out they never did get straightened out rosanne rodgers spokesperson for the york region food network on premier mike harris announced retirement in october theihltufe ifa iesnot look very bright weve seen in the lastfew years an increasing challenge in finding physicians for the hospital and the community markhainstouffville hospital president dr jim maclean commenting on a survey by the college of family physicians in october the poll of more than j 3000 family physicians indicated twothirds of doctors will no longer accept new patients i dont think york region community care access centre has been very successful they have done some good things but at the end of the day we had some poor decisions sometimes good intentions arent enoughs the buck stops with us we will ensure the clients and taxpayers get the best possible service oak ridges mpp frank klces suggesting the province is about to shake up control of the york region agency that coordinates home care following six months of acrimony between ontarios community care access centres and the tories some of the regulars would just light up anyway and say what are you going to ib throw me out v 0 paul vasilovsky owner of the i l unionville amis on york regions smoking bylaw il i ml antiques the distinctive alternative i h main si hi i i iinionmiii a i i