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economist suntribune saturday march 2 2002 stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 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 staceyallen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil letters too bad safe water can only be had through more development re box grove residents back plans for their community letter to the editor feb 19 i can only try to imagine the desperate sit uation the residents of box- grove are in regarding their water i am well aware of the deadly ecoli conta mination in their wells as should we all after the walkerton wakeup call therefore agree they should receive municipal water as soon as possible what i really find annoying is the fact that in order to receive safe water they have to agree to more of the same thing that destroyed their water in the first place urban sprawl that means inefficient use of land and resources increasing commuting time traffic congestion and pollution as well as destroy ing farmland green space and environmen tally sensitive areas i dont believe we can continue to fill wet lands culvert rivers cut down forests and pave agricultural land and expect txf continue to exist i think its very selfish of us not to protect and preserve the real necessities of life such as water food and air think about the quality or lack of life that we will leave to our children and grandchil dren bernadette manning markham integritychallenged defence minister should resign as a canadian citizen i am both disturbed and disappointed with prime minister jean chretien the federal liberal government and defence minister art eggleton at his best mr eggleton has been mediocre as a career politician he has always lacked substance intelli gence and fortitude with this being said we can add another descriptive word and trait to the former mayor of torontoscharacter portfolio dis honest parliamentary rules stipulate that mem bers of the house of commons within the opinion tsv ggs i ljiiia y a j gwsii gr j sg siggagaag k pow briefings inquiry chamber and in committee must refrain abstain and avoid using language containing the word or words lying or liar as a taxpayer and a canadian who is extremely concerned about our men and women fighting terrorism in afghanistan i feel compelled to define mr eggleton for what he really is the hon arthur c eggleton is an elected public figure who has misled and deceived the house in one even sweep the defence minister misrepresented the truth and exposed him self for what he really is given this character flaw and his inability to restore confidence in his leadership am publicly requesting that the minister resign the honourable member has proven he racks the integrity to lead an important department and ministry at such a pivotal and critical period in canadas history kirk sutherland markham radical union leaders destroy respect between teachers boards i thought the letter by frank gray was a very good one about teacher unions refusing to take tests i spent most of my life in a graphic arts printing union and over the last thirty years or so as younger more radical union leaders gained control any respect for employee- employer relations just disintegrated most of the companies started looking for other alternatives recently when nelson mandela was speaking at skydome premier mike harris was booed by about 50000 students when he was introduced doesnt it occur to teachers that students are sent to school to learn not to be pulled into antigovernment battles the best decision we ever made was to send our children to modestlypriced livein christian high schools i think these tax cuts being introduced by the province is a very good thing for parents parents need to be given other choices to educate their children other than the union- dominated public school system i have since discovered thatpraying start ed to be withdrawn in north american schools in the 1960s and we have been paying the price ever since bud oconnor unionville join our online discussions at yorkregioncom your opinion is important to us on our let ters to the editor pages and on our website we invite you to join the ongoing discus- sions at yorkregioncom and youre welcome to launch your own discussion there too the site serves readers of the york region newspaper group which includes the economist sun stouffville tribune richmond hillthornhill liberal vaughan citizen newmarketaurora erabanner georgina advocate and stouffville sun 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 marwiam ont l3p 1m3 i stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 canadian circulations i audit board member ontario press council canadian publications maa product sales agreement 14034 19 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 ajaxpickedng 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 erin advocatecountry routes etobicoke guardian flamborough post georgetown independent acton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetanguishene minor milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york minor oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillia 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 905 2940200 fax 905 2941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 distributioneoonsuaxom yr w i t 1 1 1 telephone 905 2942200 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom rick vanderlinde abolishing catholic school system reasonable request let me get this out of the way first i am not catholic that said i have nothing against catholics my next door neighbours are catholic mybest friend in high school was catholic i work with catholics i once dated a catholic i have no prejudice but i have to agree with earl manners president of the ontario sec ondary school teachers federation catholics dont need a separate edu cation system funded through general taxes mr manners may be trying to increase his turf and the size of his unions membership by suggesting one publicly funded education system but his call for the elimination of ontarios catholic education system makes economic sense to hardpressed taxpayers especially parents who are paying twice through endless fundrais ers put on by cashstrapped public schools i dont know if i can stand another chocolatecovered almond jn york region for instance one sys tem would niean one school board headquarters and fewer administrators although the boards share some resources such as busing so much more could be amalgamated there just isnt enough money for duplication and with the bulk of education being funded through general taxes instead of property taxes a single system would ohlybe fair im helping pay for a catholic school my neighbours kids can walk to while my children are bused across the city to a holding school amalgamation doesnt mean catholicism has to be completely eradi cated from the system manners points out catholicism can be mixed with education through sepa rate religious classes after 3 pm catholic educators have always said that just wont do religious teachings must be intertwined with everything from biology to physical education through out the day ive always considered that argument a stretch especially since much of what catholic teachers espouse can be offered in a public system simply by talking about good character predictably thornhill mpp tina molinari a former catholic school trustee jumped on the constitutional argument when she heard about mr manners suggestion for a single school system the right to catholic education has been entrenched in the british north america act since 1861 but that really isnt a practical argu ment anymore in 1997 ah amendment to the con stitution allowed quebec to change its religiousbased education system to one based on language v splits possible and ifs reaonabte