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economist suntribune thursday feb 21 2002 stoiiffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage ra markham onl l3p 1m3 telephone- 905 294moo 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuhcom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter deputy editor debora kelly editor jim mason production manager pam nichols distribution manager barry black electronic communications manager john futhey classified manager ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager stacey allen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial infighting wont help alliance succeed hurray for diane ablonczy most of you are scratching your heads and wondering who diane ablonczy is shes me fourth candidate in the race for the alliance leadership challenging stockwell day stephen harper and grant hill while the three guys are duking it out over who lied about what covert deal has been made behind the scenes for the leadership bid ms ablonczy summed up how most canadians feel about it while these lads are fighting here canadians are wondering what role we are going to play as the official opposition in straightening out the affairs of the nation we have to have a clear plan to put forward an alternative to the present government she said in a televised debate tuesday night a thank you ms ablonczy thank you while mr day mr harper and mr hill attacked each others idea of cooperating with the enemy apparently thats joe clark tory leader ms ablonczy aptly pointed out most canadians just want to make sure the federal government is accountable to the people if we do not have an effective official opposition we might as well not have one at all vi thats thestatusof government today with the canadian auiancein disarray still trying to mend itself from internal dogfights that saw key players resigning from important posts there is no one to make the liberal govern ment accountable and thats sad frankly considering what a mess the liberals are in they however have been much more effective at keeping the fam- ily skeletons in the closet with a few sad excep tions such as the minileadership race total ly unofficial of course that pits key cabinet members against each other for a job that doesnt yet appear to be open how sad we have a neglectful government in disar ray and disharmony with its internal bicker ing- we have a neglectful official opposition thats in disarray and disharmony with its internal bickering and then theres joe clark sigh ms ablonczy is looking pretty good canadas big m inner in salt lake u letters to the editor fire dispatchers not exempt from economic downsizing re safety is big reason for firefighter reluc tance on central dispatch letter to the editor feb 12 now that phil dawson has brought up the subject of central dispatch i feel as a taxpay- ing citizen i should have my say i believe we pay duly elected regional councillors to make these decisions and not unionized firefighters if as mr dawson statesin his letter they see public safety arid customer service as priorities they should be right behind cen tral dispatch with automatic aid as part of the system this would mean the closest fire sta tion could respond to an emergency regard less of whether it was in their municipality or not this would allow parts of the western area of markham to have better service this should not be confused with mutual aid whereby one department sends another department assistance when requested perhaps mr dawson as president of markham professional fire fighters association international association of fire fighters local 2727 would like to comment on this mr dawson should also realizethis is the 21st century and downsizing and reassign ment to alternate positions are common in the business world why should municipal workers be exempt any money saved by reducing the number of dispatchers could be put toward putting more firefighters on the front lines r beckett markham town should have little say on retailers locating in markham re influx of restaurants and franchises could ruin unionviue letter to the editor jan 29 the reality is franchises and esplanade- like stores will not move to unionville main street if the residents db not support the existing stores by shopping arid eating on main street the community continues to ignore the unique selection found on main street and goes to the shopping centres super malls and discount stores the conse quence is main street will fall prey to the subsidized franchise outlets thats busi ness the town of markham should have little say in what retailers are attracted to markham the residents opinions have to be supported by buying patterns that reflect a commitment to our community- based stores and the value found within those stores jimgrice markham letters policy stouflville 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 letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham 0ntl3plm3 email lettersdeconsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 bbs mie inadian circulations i canadian circulations audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mall product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mail 1 year 6955 thursdays only stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajavpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrle advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobicoke guardian flamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauganews newmarket- aurora georgjna erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillla today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbrldge tribune and city of yorkguardian phone sh5 2940200 fax9052941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 distributiorteconsunxom david teetzel olympics bring out worst in everyone except athletes was that really wayne gretzky that angry man on my tv monday night ranting about how the americans hate us repeating phrases like crock of bull uttering vague threats of violent pay back bore little resemblance to the guy who dominated the nhl not only with his skill but with his class not that he didnt have reason to be angry after roman hamrlik of the czech republic slammed his stick into theo fleurys spinal column but part of me suddenly cared a lot less about our hockey team winning olympic gold we expect cheap shots and sour grapes in your average runofthemill professional sports championship but the olympic games are supposed to be about something nobler wasnt that supposed tobe the point of that kid with the lantern at the open ing ceremonies the youth of the world putting their best efforts forward in a spirit of friendly competition but since then weve seen rigged fig ure skating judging overcome by endless public whining the coverage has been all about canadas medal expectations and the sneering contempt some of the media have shown toward those who failed to meet those expectations when wayne gretzky turns into a poor sport you have to wonder what all this olympic hype is really about is it about countries pumping mega- dollars into athletic programs so we can gain vicarious national pride through the accomplishments of a few citizens or is that the impression you get when you dont watch the athletes close ly enough because there is something inspiring about knowing sharons veronica brenner has worked and trained and sacrificed for years for that few seconds she was twisting and tiirning in the air and it was wonderful to hear her gush ing thankfulness sharing her moment of glory with coaches family and every one who ever touched her career watching catriqna lemay doan go from a moment of quiet prayer to blast ing around the track at breakneck speed then celebrating wildly with her beloved husband that was a iump-in-the- throat moment n did you see elvis stojkos face when his marks came in i saw no defeat the guy was happy he fought the good fight keptthe faith and with noth ing more he could do he was just enjoy ing the moment theyre just trying to put all the bad stuff aside and do their personal best in a situation that is far from perfect it has become very easy tphate the hypeahd petty politics of the olympic games but you gotta love the athletes 4 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