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economist sunsunthbune saturday aug 23 2003 suntribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouflvule on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot opinion editor in chief debora kelly business manager robertlazurko dntectorof production johnfuthey advertising director retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci letters to the editor mp elected on marriage stance re mp wilfert reneging on support of gay community letter to the editor by ian mc- callum and cheryl cooke harrington aug 16 oak ridges liberal mp byron wilfert along with his many parliamentary colleagues including the prime minister cabinet and paul martin voted in 1999 to uphold tradi tional marriage they went so far as to confirm it should remain the union of one man and one woman it was on this basis and others they were re elected and it is on this basis we expect pur democratically elected politicians not to renege on their promise to the canadian people while there are some who say ones per sonal belief system has ho place in the public square it was the belief systems of our found ing fathers that created canada with their constitutional affirmation of the supremacy of god as the authority to whom we must ulti mately give account further it is not certain all homosexuals choose to go so far as emulating heterosexual unions in the form of marriage with all the legal implications that it imposes many might prefer the commonlaw arrangements and spousal benefits they now enjoy ratting this to a public and parliamentary debate would put the decisionmaking process where it belongs in the hands of the people and parliament of canada f if changes cant stand the test of the ballot box and legislature they should not be able to bypass the democratic system by appealing to judicial activists these people are unelected and picked by the very person who not only reneges on his promises but undemocratical- ly tries to ram through change by this means richard van setters president markham canadian alliance association votenomrmccalluum an open letter to markham mp john mccallum i voted liberal in the last federal election i am also opposed to samesex marriage should the liberals go ahead and make same sexmarriage legal i will not vote liberal again nor will anyone else in my household marriage is an institution made by god between a man and a woman to change gods law is an abominatiori we are to love the sinner but hate the sin samesex marriage is wrong and if it becomes legal it will open a can of worms for the fami ly and society please vote no to the samesex marriage legislation mr mccallum for the family soci ety and god brendadinallo markham vol 01fitlrfjl7wet better wl get to class were late fdr health m tit thiwiltm vending co r- m m if region not serious on health re too long to confirm west nile virus tests aug 7 this editorial stated our public health department is taking west nile seriously i doubt if this is true after the report of a positive test on a bird in the aurora road and ninth line area june 23 1 found a dead bird possibly a crow or black bird in my front yard during the july 1 long weekend i phoned the west nile hotline i was told by a recorded message to leave my phone num ber and i would be contacted by the depart ment concerned to date i have not received a call if the regional health department is taking things seriously do you think it would ignore my message gwong advertise volunteer opportunities re tories offer little support in student volunteer mandate aug 14 i felt frustrated reading about the lack of opportunity for young people particularly those under 18 to find volunteer opportuni ties and meet their community service requirements it seems to me what is lacking is some sort of clearinghouse concept where groups look ing for volunteers can advertise their oppor tunities to the schools a case in point is the tennis program for mentally challenged young adults i support as an adult volunteer at armadale tennis club in markham the program runs monday evenings from midjune to the end of august and provides about 15 hours of volunteer experience for someone who isnt afraid to have fun with people who love to play tennis were not looking for an andre agassi or serena williams and you certainly dont need to be 18 years old if you can hit a slowpaced and reasonably accurate shot to someone on the other side of a net then we have a great opportunity for you i think there are hundreds of other large and small volunteerhungry programs losing out because they dont know how to advertise its not rocket science all we need is a- phone number an e address or a website we can use to advertise the province needs to figure out who will play the key role of match maker to link students and opportunities steve watson markham thanks for successful jazz festival despite all the problems that have been sent our way these past few months last weekends markham jazz festival was a tremendous success both artistically and in fan attendance we are extremely grateful to the many- hours of preparation put in by our volunteer committee and i must not forget the addi tional volunteers who came just for the week end and worked very hard were also thankful to the sponsors many of whom with great loyalty came back again and the new companies who gave of them selves to be a part of the festival the venues that participated were a plus to the festival presenting a wide a variety of artists chosen by the festival we have been inundated with calls from fans who enjoyed your food and service and a special note of thanks to york regional police officers who enjoyed the music but remained alert and friendly we are lucky to have officers of this calibre hal hill founderartistic directorpresident markham jazz festival residents fight for hamlet re bypass could mean better future for victoria square july 29 residents of victoria square and area through the save victoria square ratepayers association have done an excellent job in continuing our fight to retain the character of thishamlet when residents were called upon to ensure we were heard on an issue to protect the ham let they showed up the first threats came with the rezoning application in 1996 it has been a long road and our residents have had to pay attention to these developments consistantly to make sure we were not paved over the proposed northsouth bypass is a relief to many residents we anticipate traffic volumes may be reduced by 80 per cent on woodbine avenue the 404eigin mills road interchange now under construction will likely increase traffic on elgin mills but we hope the north leg of the woodbine bypass takes a lot of pres sure off elgin mills this road will remain at two lanes through the hamlet the environmental study mentioned in frank kings column will also review the opportunity to assess the need for an east- west bypass we have stressed the need to consider the north leg of the bypass as the first part of what could be an eastwest bypass this is one of pur next focus issues victoria squares west flank is already slated for residential property up to the proposed bypass all properties adjacent to victoria square will haye lot sizes similiar to that of the hamlet which is about 13 of an acre all these amendments are designed to keep our little enclave mostly intact i suspect if we are as diligent as we have been in the past those trucks and traffic referred to in the column will be reduced to the point where we will have our sleepy hamlet again soon jim robertson president save victoria square ratepayers association letters policy the stoufiville 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 l3p1m3 email letterseconsuncom 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