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economist suntribune thursday oct w 2002 stouffville tribune serving the community since 1856 a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 publisher ian proudfoot editorial teachers force behind stringent student protection act teachers shouldnt be sending emails of a sexual nature to students teachers shouldnt be dating students this is all common sense or so you would think yet the ontario college of teachers the professional body responsible for licensing ontario teachers issued a new advisory tuesday to the profession that defines clearly what constitutes sexual abuse and heightens awareness of the issue the college developed the advisory follow ing the publication of a report by former justice sydney robins which led to the adoption of the student protection act by the ontario gov ernment sept 3 the new student protection act prohibits teachers from making personal phone calls to students making suggestive comments send ing intimate letters giving students personal gifts and meeting with them privately the college advisory makes it clear even if the student consents to or initiates the relationship its the teachers responsibility to ensure the behaviour is appropriate this had to be spelled out according to college chairperson larry m capstick teachers themselves are the driving force behind the legislation the profession through the college wants to deal with inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature in a decisive and open manner he said can parents breathe a huge sigh of relief now unfortunately they cant will all stu dents now be protected from sexual abuse harassment and relationships with their teach ers as a result of this new act no of course not will every single case now be brought to the attention of the authorities no sadly many children needing protection will continue to slip through the cracks there isnt one profession out there not dealing with issues of sexual misconduct from doctors and other healthcare workers to youth leaders and hockey coaches so it does make sense the issue is addressed for teachers the advisory outlines for parents and the public the professions commitment to carry ing out its responsibilities for student safety what is important about the act is it estab lishes accountability outside the classroom the act requires school boards and the teachers college to share information about disciplinary action against a teacher to pre vent that person from moving undetected to a new board it also removes teachers from the classroom as soon as they are charged with a sexual crime against a child improvements in the hiring and screening of teachers will also occur and certainly the act will make it easier for the teachers college to discipline for inappropriate behaviour opinion r let m guess you got your summer mm bill right letters to the editor thanks for help during straw fire last sunday whittamores farm had an unexpected fire that destroyed our straw maze we are thankful no one was injured and that we can continue to operate our business dur ing this fall harvest season we would like to thank our staff friends family neighbours and customers from the field workers directing emergency vehicles and store staff who were trying to remain calm to the tractor driver staff and customers who worked to remove as many bales from the inferno as they could and the staff who worked to keep customers away from danger also thanks to the markham pickering whitchurchstouffville and toronto fire ser vices york region ems and york and metro toronto police forces for their excellent work we truly appreciate all the effort and support frank suzanne whittamore markham fans team show lack of patriotism unfortunately the only stouffville spirit in attendance at saturday nights junior a hockey game at the stouffville arena was the team itself a long awkward silence ensued as the crowd rose to its feet to sing our national anthem waiting for the music to begin over the sound system this silence was broken only by the economist sunstoufiviue tribune 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 letterseconsuncom one spirited fan whistling the first few bars to o canada what a proud patriotic moment it would have been had the crowd followed and burst into song unfortunately the announcer then con firmed that due to technical difficulties the national anthem would not be played once again a chance for stouffville to show its canadian spirit was lost how wonderful it would have been for all the fans to be told that despite technical diffi culties we would now sing the anthem even without the music despite my attempt to speak to the announcer and later to a stouffville spirit offi cial to request the anthem still be sung before the second or final period it never happened what a disappointment as a seasons ticket holder i look forward to being in attendance at other stouffville spirit games i can only hope some canadian spirit will also be in attendance next time susan stapley stouffville editorial editor jim mason neivsroomvconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane stevekthclibcmlcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrewserabanncrcom classified manager ann campbell annc0vrabannercom real estate manager mike rogerson production electronic communications manager john futhey jfuthcyyrngcom distribution distribution manager barry black bbuickerabannercom administration office manager vivian oneil voneilcconsuncom york region events managing director debra welter dwelleryrngcom shows manager staceyallen sallenyrngcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 9052941200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8531765 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontario press 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 priming publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhillvaughan citron markham eeonomst ft sun stouffville tribune stouffville sun georgna advocate york regktn business times at home good life yorkregkincom and brk 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 gordpaolucci debora kelly canada letting investment leave with graduates at a health care forum hosted by our newspaper group this month panellists discussed the future of medicare and offered madeinyorkregion solutions to the challenges facing theystem soon after introductory remarks talk focused on the dramatic shortage of doctors and nurses southlake regional health centre president dan carriere detailed his attempt while on a trip to houston to entice ontario nurses to return home at question time a nursing student was quick to take the microphone she stated half her class would likely take jobs in the united states on gradu ating why arent you coming to our school to offer us jobs instead of going to houston she indignantly inquired why indeed are we allowing our highly trained and educated graduates and certainly not just nurses to take their skills south why are we content to see our investment stipends provided by every single taxpayer leave without the promised return taxpayers take the hit for postsec ondary education in both pockets fed erally and provincially despite major slashing the provinces remain the main source of funding providing 58 billion 46 per cent of the total to universities in 1999 according to a 1999 statistics canada survey the socalled brain drain is small but significant the survey of canadian graduates showed 15 per cent of the more than 300000 postsecondary graduates in 1995 moved to the us id be surprised if that number was nt much higher now particularly in the healthcare sector given the deteriora tion in working conditions and job security since 1995 its clear as the nursing student pointed out we are not making enough of an effort to keep our best and bright est at home our schools must put a halt to the aggressive recruitment of our tal ent by us hospitals and companies our governments with the support of hospitals and the private sector must undertake recruitment cam paigns to keep our future in canada certainly the slashing of funding for research education and health care must end in other words providing the necessary improvements in work ing conditions and job security and after all this if a graduate decides the grass is greener elsewhere goes off to rack up the big bucks in a job they wouldnt have obtained with out the gracious help of taxpayers then he should be required to pay back the investment made on his behalf