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6 economist suntribune saturday oct 19 2002 s stouffville tribune serving the community since 1856 a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham onl l3p 1m3 publisher ian proudfoot opinion editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director retail fever sales nicole mathieu advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci letters to the editor many homeless have jobs but cant afford accommodation re why go to university with shelters avail able letter to the editor by jeff schwalm oct 5 mr schwalm should go to university because as far as i can tell he does not have a serious health problem ie an addiction mental illness he has the necessary prereq uisites such as housing adequate food and income and he wants a good job one that pays a lot more than minimum wage a number of people who were living in torontos tent city and shelters do work yet they cannot find affordable housing further many more of them have serious health problems and lack a number of pre requisites for work such as housing ade quate food and income mr schwalms advice to the people of tent city get off your lazy butt go out and find a job is similar to the remark made by alberta premier ralph klein on an early- morning visit to a mens shelter in edmonton not so long ago subsequent news stories said mr klein had been drinking not that 50 per cent of these men were working my advice to mr schwalm is to spend some time with people who are homeless hopefully they will give him an educa tion that will show him the way to becom ing as jean vanier says more fully human elaine walsh unionville government should ensure hay mazes are safe properly staffed this is an edited version of a letter sent to the ontario fire marshals office on sunday oct 6 markham fire and emergency services responded to an inci dent at whittamores berry farm on steeles avenue in east markham upon arrival the firefighters established that 80 of 160 bales of straw were burning and up to 20 persons were being evacuated by the owner and members of his staff during the evacuation firefighters were told the bales of straw were positioned to form a maze during my discussions with the owner frank whittamore he informed me many members of the ontario farmfresh marketers association provide mazes similar to his for the entertainment of customers many of these mazes are constructed using farm products such as straw at the end of the season the straw is used as winter cover for strawberries and other plants after reviewing the ontario fire code and speaking with kevin kelly of your office we concluded the fire code provisions do not apply the markham fire and emergency ser vices request the following safety concerns be addressed there are no emergency exits provided once in the only way out is through the field if the maze is cut out of the field or the person must work his way back to the start ing point if bales are used in this instance the maze was not overly large and those in it returned to the starting point or climbed over the top of the bales to escape combustibility of the product during the growing season is negligible however when harvest time comes the moisture con tent is at its minimum and the probability of a fire is much greater combustibility or the use of noncom bustible materials must be addressed to pre vent the loss of life or injury to those who visit or work at these venues most operators do not have fireextin guishing equipment or an adequate water supply available to slow down the spread of fire or extinguish it prior to the fire depart ments arrival most operators do not have a plan in place to evacuate the persons in the maze if an emergency does exist thus placing these people at risk some of these mazes are operate during the evening hours which again creates potential for additional safety issues where necessary illuminated exit signs andor paths of exit travel shall be provided controlling smoking materials and igni tion sources the temporary installation of electrical wiring equipment and fixtures fire watch or supervisory staff should be in place at all times because of the pppularity and continued growth of these agritainment facilities the fire service along with your office andor the government should develop new legis lation or at a minimum produce safety guidelines scott richardson chief fire prevention officer town of markham thanks to fire department for wellorganized open house i wanted to thank markham fire and emergency services for an excellent open house at the main street markham station last weekend celebrating national fire prevention week it was well organized informative and fun it was a great opportunity for the com munity to see the fire hall and trucks and to meet some of the people who protect our community everyone was very friendly and inviting the barbecue was a delicious surprise with plenty of hamburgers and hotdogs it was a thrill for my son jack to be able to sit in a fire truck thank you for all of the hard work that went into organizing such an event sheila ducheck markham markhams traffic problems will keep me from visiting again re traffic deaths double in york region sept 28 the other week when attending a confer ence in markham i read this article in which york regional police chief robert middaugh attributes some of the accidents to bad driving actually the fatigue and boredom of dri ving due to the proliferation of automobiles contributes mightily to the number of acci dents signs along some highways in canada proclaim fatigue kills i had looked forward to a visit to markham as a respite from automobiles that i encounter daily in detroit but markham was no pleasure i would not visit again even ifyoupaidme ralph slovenko professor of law wayne state university detroit michigan monarchy important to keep despite politicians comments as prime minister brian mulroney was accused of taking canada too close to the united states recent comments by deputy prime minister john manley make it quite clear he would like nothing better than to see canada move even closer manleys illtimed remarks in french were no surprise to many people but i would suggest to mr manley that he stands a much greater chance of winning the super 7 lottery than having his dream regarding the monar chy come true this great country was born out of a dominion and removing the monarchy would be no simple task first the constitution would have to be amended since all the provinces and territo ries would have to agree to the change this is not likely to happen if past experiences are any yardstick as well we could not agree on the charlottetown and meech lake accords my advice to mr manley economist suntribune news editor frank king and those other wouldbe republicans is dont hold your breath on this one if i did not defend the monarchy i would be breaking faith with those wonderful veter ans whose lives are ebbing away in places like sunnybrook health centre and for those thousands of brave men and women who fought for king queen and country and now lie in foreign fields john shaw markham letters policy the stouflville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3pim3 email lctterseconsuncom editorial editorn mason neivsroomeconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane sievekyorkregioncom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandreivseralxmnercom classified manager ann campbell anncvrnbannercom real estate manager mike rogerson production electronic communications manager john futhey jfullieyyrngcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackeconsitncom administration office 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