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

akmfft 3 jiessssstsss bh i s g 6 economist suntribune thursday oct 3 2002 stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham onl l3p 1m3 publisher ian proudfoot editorial auroras socalled leaders shame region the ignorance of auroras murray drive is a shame that must be borne by all york region more than 25 of the streets residents were celebrating last week when council inconceiv ably turned down its own rezoning request that would have seen a habitat for humanity home built on a fouracre vacant lot there instead of instinctively embracing an opportunity to provide a hardworking family with a better quality of life a chance to break the debilitating cycle of poverty these resi dents scrabbled to retain a park an empty lit tleused town lot on which sit two benches how could the towns socalled leaders with the exception of one lone councillor ron wallace possibly have been swayed to sup port that ignoble choice our communities cannot be and should not be permitted to be sheltered enclaves for those whose affluence has fostered a dispo sition of selfindulgence and selfinterest habitat for humanity relies on the philan thropy of land donors in its quest that on the surface is to build simple decent homes for those who couldnt afford them otherwise but in reality is about building hope the homes are provided to families in need of a hand they carry a mortgage albeit interestfree just as most of their neighbours do it doesnt cost tax money it isnt a freebie habitat for humanity a nonprofit agency founded in 1976 in georgia has built more than 120000 homes in 83 countries since habitat for humanity canada was founded in 1985 in manitoba more than 500 homes have been built aurora councils contemptible backtracking is a sad setback for the fledgling habitat for humanity york region organization its first home built with donations of cash and materials the time of volunteers and sweat equity of the recipient family was erected in newmarket last summer private and municipally owned lots in east gwillimbury georgina and richmond hill have now been donated for homes in those communities its something of which those towns should be proud while much of this is about doing the right thing about helping those who are less fortu nate but in no way less worthy there is a prac tical side to the drive to bring more affordable housing to york region there has been a dawning realization diver sity in housing is essential to the enduring prosperity of york region regional government has taken some ini tiative on the issue formally announcing plans to address the need by working with the pri vate sector to find creative solutions in the meantime habitat volunteers in york region remain undaunted in their mission my hope is some generous people will come forward to help us says volunteer john volpe opinion mum a ibao not e61n icounta to wte rarmusr session of pkuamwt h soman- wwwdaii9hancom letters to the editor no representation from markham at harvest festival i attended the harvest festival at herongate barn and dinner theatre sept 22 it was a fam ily day in the country to bring awareness to our yet again threatened prime agricultural lands in the duffinrouge agricultural preserve david crombie and janet ecker were very supportive of keeping the agricultural preserve in perpetuity unfortunately because it was never written into legislation it has been threatened time and time again it was disturbing although one third of the preserve is in markham i saw no local represen tation i suppose it could have had something to do with the fact the town and province have approved the relocation of a 170acre catholic cemetery from hwy 407 and ninth line in the hamlet of box grove to steeles avenue and reesor road in the community of cedar grove this 200yearold farming community is in the heart of the preserve on the banks of the rouge the former cemetery lands are being sold to develop 2600 new homes in box grove opening the door to more urban sprawl more traffic and more disruption of watercourses in an age when we are finally recognizing the need to protect necessities such as safe water clean air and food our town and province are allowing and accommodating this type of growth the economist sunstouffville tvibune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the economist suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham l3p 1m3 email ietterseconsuncom i can only hope and pray for the sake of future generations and ourselves we will have an intelligent and responsible government to protect our basics of survival we can no longer allow this type of uncontrolled destruction bernadette manning markham more york aids funding needed there is lack of funding for aids services and i think something should be done about it aids can happen to anyone i cannot believe there are not enough social services and med ical services what makes it so dissapointing is that there are physicians who are experts in the fields of aids but in york there are no clinics i suggest the aidshiv funding level in canada should increase i encourage people to come out and make a difference for the people with aidshiv by fundraising tommy le markville secondary school markham editorial editor jim mason newsroomeconsimcom advertising retail sales manager steve kane stevektheliberalcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandreivseralminncrcom classified manager ann campbell annceralhtnnercom real estate manager mikerogerson production electronic communications manager john futhey jfutheyyrngcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackerabanncrcom administration office manager vivian oneil voneileconsuncom york region events managing director debrawdler dwelleryrngcom shows manager staceyallen sallenyrngcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 9052942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8531765 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontarlopress circulations audit council board member stouffville tribune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york regton newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhil vaughan citaen markham economist sun stouffville tribune stouffville sun georgina- advocate york regan business times at home good life yorkre0oncom and york region printing editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director retail flyer sales nicole mathieu advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci david teetzel people forget my streef is everyones street enjoying dinner with a few friends the other week the discussion turned to local transit yes i said ive heard many complaints from residents of northern york region communities that just received transit service people say buses using their streets are danger ous passengers waiting by the roadside are creating a mess and besides nobody on their streets uses the bus since our hostess for the evening doesnt drive and her husband is a trucker who is away from home for long stretches of time these objections didnt elicit much sympathy i get a sense of deja vu from the debate over buses in holland landing sharon and keswick i saw it all before when richmond hill markham and vaughan were building their transit sys tems the arguments being made in the north today are the same as the ones made in the south 10 to 15 years ago i remember sitting through richmond hill council meetings in the late 80s as residents railed against tran sit routes in their neighbourhoods the buses are empty they said they are a waste of taxpayers money a threat to safety an affront to democracy well regional route restructuring has pulled buses off some streets and residents want their bus back mary bourget 78 used to catch a bus at the end of her street that took her to the legion hall the doctors office and the pharmacy the route was changed so the bus now goes directly across weldrick road from hillcrest mall to bayview avenue cutting off a big chunk of town for mrs bourget and her neigh bours it means catching a bus at weldrick and essex avenue a three- way stop where there are usually three cars stacked at each stop sign or walk ing to major mackenzie drive major mackenzie is a little far for seniors to walk and it will be worse in the winter weldrick and essex is like a perpetual game of chicken pedestrians mrs bourget reports can expect honking horns and rude ges tures if they are lucky enough to find a driver who will let them cross the street which brings home the point if a transit system is going to work the bus has to be a short walk from peoples homes otherwise those who need public transit the most cant access it the concept people have to wrap their heads around is my street is real ly everyones street people sometimes forget roads are all public thoroughfares before you decide you dont want a bus in your neighbourhood think a few decades ahead when it just might be your lifeline