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6 stouffville suntribune thursday aug 1420o3 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056462612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonymgcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial here1hey com eystou ffville olfctwheelhbbs 50ntkbu healthcare system leaves workers with few resources the york region public health department is slamming the federal government for not doing enough to protect canadians from west nile virus weve heard this before since january our public health department has been working to protect residents from the norwalk virus sars and now west nile in each case the federal government was criticized for not providing enough help to combat the viruses its clear canadas health system isnt prepared to cope with largescale out breaks leaving healthcare workers twisting in the wind with whatever lim ited resources are on hand almost immediately after sars took its grip last spring queens park advised doctors and health departments to report cases of the contagious and potentially fatal respiratory disease ottawa implemented the same step under the federal quarantine act in midjune that was well after the final out break was over said dr hanif kassam york regions associate medical officer of health canada could take a page from the united states in response to the 2001 terrorist attacks in new york and washington the office of homeland security was estab lished to monitor terrorist activities and prepare the us for future attacks its a good model for whats needed here with word we are likely to face more hasty viruses like sars and norwalk in the coming years our healthcare sys tem must be better prepared to respond when an outbreak is suspected establishing better protocols even a rapid response team is in order the fact it took 22 days for a federal lab in winnipeg to disprove a falseposi tive preliminary test of a suspected west nile pool in whitchurchstouffvilie proves further investment is needed in this area with the sars death toll rising again this week arid human cases ofwest nile vims cropping up in ontario we dont heed any farther femmdescjmcneeci- to address the shortcomings of the system vf v i letters to the editor thanks for support blood to further battle against cancer the fraser family would like to thank every one in the stouffville area for their support over the last 10 months while we battled cancer with our fouryearold dawson after numerous biopsies scans transfu sions surgeries intense chemotherapy a bone marrow transplant and radiation we are happy to say dawson is currently cancerfree we still have a very long road ahead of scans and biopsies as neuroblastoma tumours after all this treatment has a 30 to 50percent cure rate we hope and pray dawson is part of this percentage he certainly is a fighter we would riot have been able to be by his side without the support of everyone we thank everyone for their kindness and will continue the fight of our lives over the next five years having biopsies and scans every three months arid biweekly visits to the hospital for sick children for monitoring a big thanks goes out to those of you who donate blood as dawson received close to 40 transfusions and this alone was a lifesaving measure we cannot begin to explain what we have gone through but with the love and support frbrri everyone we will continue bur fight against cancer- s v s v the erasers uxbridge the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and addressthe stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 qvic ave po box 1 54 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonymgcom safety village needed now re construction of safety village under way at bruces mill july 31 it is a pity the york region safety village had not been available last month driving along millard street in stouffville july 21 i saw about eight young children aged about five to eight riding their bikes on the sidewalk they were accompanied by a teenage girl on her bike who i suppose was keeping an eye on them however the children raced along the sidewalk oblivious to stop signs and roared across the inter sections without stopping or checking for traffic i cannot understand why parents of young children cant teach them the rules of the road when on their bikes as well as have a responsible person accompany them one teenager trying to look after eight young children on bikes was hope lessly inadequate drivers of cars should not feel responsible if these children had been injured or heaven forbid killed it is usually the driver who seems to be at fault riot the parents v v ekdissette v stouffville suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 9056404612 fax9056408778 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregi0ncom email jmasonymgcom membenohtario community newspapers association canadian commuriitynewspaper association wsi8milr ohtaridpress council editor in chief debora kelly j editor jim mason reporters joan ransberryhannelore volpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager ram i nichols c office manager vivian oneil business manager robert lazurko director of marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director retail sales flyers nicole retcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci managing director real estate mike rogerson director of production johhrithey distribution manager barry black sales manager new business development distribution dawnaandrews general manager york region printing bob dean managing director york region events management debraweller shows manager stacey allen classified manager anncampbell off the top with jim mason are our kids really all right whitehurch- stourrville about five years ago i was cruising along main street on a sweltering spring weeknight when i got stopped at what was the only traffic light in downtown stouffville it was about 1130 pm and hotter than a sauna rock three lads about 14 years old appeared out of nowhere and crossed in front of my mini van from mill street a little late to be out on a school night the dad in me said to myself then 20 feet behind them appeared more pedestrians about eight more kids some no older than seven and the smallest without shoes or socks the entire group hoofed it through the cibc parking lot heading south toward stouffville memorial park for some reason the image of the smallest of those children has stuck with me as clearly as the pictures of paul hendersons goal or assassinated jfk maybe its because a few weeks later vandals did considerable dam age downtown and in other locations in stouffville it wasnt the kids i saw they were too small but i wondered what children of that age were doing out on their own roaming and five years from now would they be the kids doing the vandalism where were the parents or guardians of the latenight youth strolling club v j r what would they be doing in the park lastfirrie i checked minor soft- ball games r ended by 830 prii and they arent hosting alknjghters at the skate park thats not to say all vandalism crime and general bad behaviour is cpmmittedby teenagersi the two iri put household remind theirfather fair enough but you dont hear of rriariy 60yearolds getting busted for ripping up flowerbeds spray paintirig church walls or smoking pot in public this paper carries a story of anoth er wave of vandalism in whitchurch- stouffvilie this summer- i hope the kids walking across main street five years ago werent involved jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune