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t i 6 stouffviue suntribune thursday nov 27 2003 opinion publisher ian proudfoot telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonymgcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial liberals make paltry moraine compromise lets face it not all that long ago the cancellation of the construction of 900 homes on the oak ridges moraine would have been good news but that was before the liberals made their ridiculous promise to stop 6600 homes from being built on their much ballyhooed greenbelt on friday premier dalton mcguinty perpetuated the tories backroom deal with developers that paved the way for all but 900 of the 6600 homes on the envi ronmentally sensitive moraine in richmond hill as well the liberals have agreed as the tories did to hand the developers land in pickerings seaton for their gra cious concessions in richmond hill all of this is why those 900 homes arid 50 acres of expanded parkland are seen as nothing more than evidence of ignomin ious backpedalling a paltry compro mise for what could have been rather than a cause for celebration i we are apparently to be appeased by the thought the deal was made with tax payers best interests in mind unfortunately we cant actually be the judge of that because even though the liberals had also prorhised a more open government no details about any deals are being revealed the least residents of york region deserve is information about the deals we need to know as much of the moraine as possible is being protected under laws that exist right now for instance the town of aurora approved a bylaw last month to protect hundreds of additional acres of moraine landwithin its borders not covered by the oak ridges moraine conservation act at least two proposed developments are affected by the bylaw 75 houses on 41 acres of privately owned land at bayview avenue and vandorf sideroad arid a pro posed golf course and homes by develop er joe lebovic near leslie street and bloomington road p inadvertently with approval of the sweeping bylaw council also chose to prevent current residents whose homes are near streams and woodlots from adding decks pools garages garden sheds or hot tubs premier mcguinty has promised sig nificant reform of planning laws to pro vide some real permanent protection to a huge mass of land thats one promise to which york region must hold him without compromise letters to the editor residents support legion re our legion much more than beer hall off the top nov 20 it was heartening to read editor jim masons col umn stating the royal canadian legion branch 459 should be recognized for more than just being a meeting place the poppy campaign money is in a trust fund and poppies and boxes have been put away until next year we thank the people of whitchurch- stoufrville for their generosity to tihis cause the dependants of veterans who gave their lives and those veterans who returned or their dependants are in need poppy contributions are used for this purpose legion members vow to remember them and it is obvious our friends and neighbours do also our branch recently presented a cheque to a resident of stouffville a widow of a veteran to cover medical expenses we work closely with the department of veterans affairs which asks for our assistance in these matters joantillyer royal canadian legion br 459 chief shouldnt target truckers re bauantrae grieves over fourth fatality nov 20 i am a truck driver i cannot possibly under stand the grief of the family of ashley ann hodgins but i also cannot understand the direction of the remainder of the article and the bias held towards truck drivers by york regional police chief armand la barge the stouflville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must indude 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 gvic ave po box 154 stouflville l4a 7z5email jmasonymgcom york region carried out a truck blitz stopping 154 trucks of which 49 were put out of service resulting in a 32percent rate of failure chief la barge then suggests there is a problem with trucks i think rather there is a problem with his mathematics tell me sir did you stop 154 trucks consecutively or did you randomly choose the 154 that looked like they needed attention of the total number of trucks operating in the region what percentage would the 49 be that were taken out of service maybe 1 or 2 per cent i can fully understand mrs dares frustration about traffic in front of her house and the difficulty of accessing the road i live on the ninth line south of stouffville one of the busiest roads in york region not only with cars but trucks of every shape and size servicing the housing construction industry in north markharh its time many of us take off our rosecolored glasses and realize we no longer live out in the country traffic is a problem regionwide and will contin ue to be as toronto heads our way i think it unfair to target one group as the cause of the problem without us the region would quickly grind to a halt herb hoover markham r stouffville mmm m sunlribune stouffville i mb ametroland community newspaper m civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a7z5 phone 9056402612 fax905640878 aassified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyoritregioncom email jmasonyrngcom member ontario community newspapers association caratfan community newspapers association ontario press council v editor in chief debora kelly editor jintmason reporters joan ransberryhanneiore volpe retail sales manager stevekane sales representative susanberry production manager pamnkhob office manager vmanokes business manager robert lazurko advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising direitorclasified real estate events management gordpaolucd managing director real estate mikerogerson director of production johnfuthey distribution manager barrybladc v sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews general manager york region printing bob dean director marketing promotions debraweller showsmanager stacey allen classified manager anncampbefl off the top with jim mason acton knows appeal of outdoor rink you could have looked all you wanted for keith acton at saturdays heritage classic hockey extravaganza stouffvilles favourite son wasnt there he probably should have been but that darn day job assistant coach with the toronto maple leafs got in the way mr acton was in vancouver with the leafs and unless you were incar cerated or comatose the classic the first outdoor game in nhl history was played in edmonton the cfl eskimos stadium was already frozen in the early alberta winter but that didnt stop fans from scooping up tickets in record time reviews were glowing even thought- the home town oilers lost to the montreal candiens people fell in love with the game again watching grown men in tuques skating outdoors nhl allstar cup winner keith acton who was ah nhl all- star in montreal and won a stanley cup with edmonton wasnt sur prised now 45 he grew up in stouffville in the 1960s before global- warning when outdoor rinks sprout ed v in back yards and open lots around town in record numbers the outdoor rink represents free dom he said as the leafs prepared for tonights game in atlanta we were free to create to imagine and to discover that was the fun part now for kids its five nights a week at the local arena under supervision pres sure and anxiety mr acton who can still skate like the wind says the outdoor shinny sessions- developed more than the skills that led to his 15year nhl playing career nooneyellinghitem we didnt realize it at the time but we were in control we were the organizers the promoters and the commissioner we made the rules and picked the teams nobody was yelling hit em he said the mens leagues we have now in our community are an extension of that they do all of that for them selves with three children playing hock ey the actons still try to build a rink every winter at their home in stouffville he says just like in the 1960s jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune