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6 stouffville suntribune thursday sept 18 2003 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonyrngcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial more cops 1 piece in system puzzle a suspected teenage drunk driver walks out of a newmarket courtroom with a milewide smile not because he was proven innocent not even because he made a plea bargain no the youth who smashed into a hydro pole onyonge street in june 2002 beatthe system on a technicality last week the crown attorneys office agreed to drop an impaired driving charge because the case took too long to get to trial it was like a headline ripped out of 1996 when court backlogs were so long thousands of cases were dropped to clear the backlog more judges and prosecutors were appointed and a rapid plea bargain plan was instituted for less serious crimes by 2001 it seemed to have worked there were few if any stories in the news papers about cases being dropped because they languished on courtroom dockets but last weeks case shows there are still problems dealing with the vol ume of cases handled by criminal courts inthegta york regions head crown attorney bob mccreary said while his office aims to have cases heard within six to seven months of a first appearance some are still dismissed because they take too long to be heard we want this to be a rare event he says so do victims of crime so do organi zations such as mothers against drunk driving and so do taxpayers last january ontario chief justice brian lennox warned backlogs are creep ing back in to the system justice lennox said the hiring of hundreds more police officers in the gtahas placed more pres sure on me criminal courts voters should demand everyone charged with a crime is dealt with in court otherwise the system is a sham in their platform the tories call for 1000 more frontline officers over the next five years yet they dont call for more prosecutors courtrooms and jails the liberals also call for 1000 more cops but at least they will hire 50 new prosecutors to focus on serious crimes still- they make no mention of more judges courtrooms of jails the ndp simply saysit will enforce timely prosecution of serious offences presumably that means more prosecu tors judges and jails unless provincial politicians look at the justice system as one entity from the time a charge is laid to the price crim inals pay more suspects will slip through the cracks letters to the editor parents cant leave kids alone in pool for even a minute re teen rescues boy from wonderland pool aug 28 i was in the wave pool at paramount canadas wonderland aug 7 with my sixyearold daugh ter when this incident occurred the pool was crowded with hundreds of peo ple we were enjoying the wave action when life guards around the pool sprang into action blowing whistles and clearing the pool as we left the pool we could see lifeguards and later paramedics working on a small child on the beach area we could see the medical team was working hard to revive young kevin then happily we heard him crying as he regained consciousness he was obviously in a state of extreme dis tress and terrified by the experience only when a relative arrived did kevin calm down but the relative didnt appear until 45 minutes after the rescue where was the adult supervision forthose 45 minutes the suntribune article stat ed kevin was left with his 10yearold brother i would not leave my sixryearold daughter supervised by a 10yearold in a pool no matter how responsible he or she may appear this should be a wakeup call for all parents or adult supervisors who think they can leave a child unsupervised at a pool of any kind young children can drown in just a few inches of water they must have adult supervision at all times when in or near water the lifeguards at wonderland are just that lifeguards they are the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and addressthe stouflville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5email jmasonyrngcom there tocontrol activities in the pool and step in when things go wrong they are not babysitters drew brims aurora town should be proud of shop resherban promises focus groups sept 11 care share thrift shop mentioned in this story has been serving this community for 22 years what does serving mean it means a place to donate stuff that would otherwise go who knows where it means quality used items at prices to fit any budget it means giving people of all ages a meaningful way to contribute while building fiiendships that last it means raising awareness of the needs of peo ple around the world and supporting relief andde- velopment work with our proceeds care share thrift shop is a winwin for every one the people of stouffville should feel proud of their town for offering the lease of the former public library building to care share thrift shop i cant think of any better use areesor stouffville 0 blouttvule mm m suntribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 9056402612 advertising 9056421496 ext 221 fax902w408778 aassified18007433353 distribution 9052948244 websjte wwwyorkregioncom email jmasonymgcom membenontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press council editor in chief debora kelly editor jim mason reporters joan ransberryhannelorevolpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols office manager vivian ofm business manager robert lazurko advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucd managing director real estate mikerogerson sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews electronic communications manager johnfuthey classified manager ann campbell distribution manager barry black general manager york region printing bob dean director marketing promotions debraweller shows manager stacey allen off the top with jim mason oh brother would terry fox have been proud everyone has a terry fox story even kids born after one of the great est canadians of all time died in 1981 have an affinity for terry darrell fox hears them every day its part of his job its who he is darrell is terrys younger brother he accompanied terry on his marathon of hope the crosscanada run that went half way across this land the cancer that claimed one of terrys legs and inspired the mammoth trek had found its way to his lungs i was there that day in thunder bay in 1980 when terry told a hastily called news conference held appropriately on the road he was stopping thats my terry fox story darrell fox was there too tough day he remembers mr fox could have been at any of the 1100 of terry fox runs held across canada sunday but he was in stouffville port perry in the morning and the stouffville arena in the afternoon mr fox was meeting the locals including sandy schell kennedy who has turned the local run into one of the most finest anywhere he was enjoying the day his brother made possible with his own family his wife and two kids and he was listening to the terry sto ries i saw terry running on sheppard avenue in toronto stouffvilles mike humphreys told mr fox a brother remembers dates and street names like it was last summer not 23 years ago that was very important mr fox said we had finished southwestern ontario terry wanted to hit as many cities as possible and were finally heading north it was a key day mr fox addressed the stouffville crowd telling them their efforts were working more cancer patients are living longer thanks to research like that fund ed by the terry fox foundation headed up by mr fox his wife did the stouffville course winding through the streets of century homes and modern bungalows north of main street mr fox did a couple of phone inter views from the arena and looked after his young children big brother would be proud jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune