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6 stouffville suntribune thursday dec 4 2003 publisher i an proudfoot teleph0ne9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonymgcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial vote for change just pocket change the liberals have come through and raised the minimum wage r great one election promise kept but beyond the public relations boost for a new government already los ing support will ohtariaris greatly bene fit from the move doesnt look like it this week labour minister chris bentley announced the general mini mum wage in ontario will increase from 685 to 715 per hour in february the rate is pegged to reach 8 within four years its really nothing more than a token gesture and higher costs associated with a wage hike could kill off entrylevel jobs said judith andrew ontario vice president of the canadian federation of independent business likely to be affected most by the increase are small business owners who often operate on the tightest budgets faced with having to hike wages for employees small businesses may choose to eliminate a position to make up for the added expenditure sure there will be extra money in the pockets of minimum wage earners enough to buy a mcdonalds happy meal but will it really make a differ ence to those in need the ndp has said the increased wage translates into an annual fulltime salary of 14872 which falls 3000 below the ppvertylirie ff the liberals want to help people the labourlobby isright ithas to be a lotmqrethah3dcerite-arihoiffthelfep- promised an immediate increase to 8 an hour a move the liberals rejected because they knew it would kill jobs by taking half measures premier daltori mcguirity may have avoided driving large corporations out of the help either lowwage earners or those busi nesses which incidentally make up 80 percent of our commercial base while j liberals have been criti- cized for backing away from one cam- paign promise after another since get ting elected meyshoimta away from one more the cancellation of the tories tax reduction program not only did the tories tax cuts help lowincome earners with more than half a million exempted from paying provincial income tax they also assisted small business owners those more like ly to offer minimum wage jobs ontario voted for change what we got is pocket change kinsmen santa oaus parde- simwpx jmcemm z oclock letters to the editor preston lake bus circle answer not as obvious as it seems re ward 3s new councillor already big on environment nov 6 v acclaimed ward 3 councillor clyde smiths enthusiasm to get on with the job is admirable however i suggest mi smith move cautiously when dealing with preston lakels school busturh- ing circle things are rarely as obvious as they look on the surface according to calculations i made with the help of neighbours there are only two families herewith children who take the public school buses and wish to have the bus come on our private road some residents who are pushing the hardest for this dont even have schoolage children others are in private schools if this is a safety issue why have they chosen the most dangerous part of the road to put it in with all the supervision at the end of the road hiow can it be that dangerous will that supervision end if the children are dropped off farther down the road v there is also the outstanding oak ridges moraine and york region tree cutting allegations pending since summeragainst the town from the same location why is all this attention being given to a turning circle when we have other serious outstanding maintenance issues with the roads mat could be a safety problem for the school buses which is why they stopped corning in originally sandra carvello preston lake 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 writeletterstomeedttor l4a7z5 email jmasonymgcom mtchurchstounville merchants backed united way campaign each year the employees of the town of wwtchmchtouffville hold a campaign to con tribute to the united way of york region this years campaign raised 4832 the major event for the campaign was a silent auction that raised more than 3000 it wouldnt have happened without the support of lebovic enterprises pace savings credit union greystone homes east side marios sleepy hollow golf and country club schell lumber bruces auto bill houstonford amarettos crupis pizza dominos pizza da classic scoop ballantrae golf and gountry club stouffville coop giant tiger dynalync ltd cook canada ltd canadian tire dnj septic designs shoppers drug mart giffels associates card appliances harveysswiss chalet a p and no frills thanks to all for supporting such a worthy cause jackboonstra united way campaign chairperson town of whttchurchstouffville ur- r stouffville sunjribune a metroland community newspaper 34 gvic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 1 phone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 ctasstfied 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 websitewwwyorkregioncom email jmasbnymgcom membenontarfog canadian community newspapers association ontariopress council editor in chief debora kelly editor jini mason reporters joan ransberry hannelore volpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols officemanager scvtvianotieil business manager jv robert lazurko advertising director fi retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paoiucci managing director real estate mikerogerson director of production johnfuthey distribution manager barryblack sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews general manager york region printing bob dean director marketings promotions debrawelier shows manager staceyallen classified manager ann campbell off the top with jim mason puts in for saturday s that santa is sure a stickler for detail is everything in order for my visit saturday little jimmy came the voice from line three mom you got a cold i asked mom its the big guy in the red suit jimmy he said you dont remember me curtis joseph i asked with trepi dation its santa claus you punk he came back just making sure every thing is set for the parade this saturday in stouffville v santacame down off the roof when i told him all was well in his favourite small town south of the north pole the stouffvilie kinsmen club has promised to fill main street with floats bands and spectators they reserved a spot for the guest ofhon- our at the rear of thelineup just make sure they dont put that team of 20 heavy horses right in front of me again this year jimmy he said the air got a tad funky by the time we hit park drive there yere more requests has the town flattened the railway crossing on main street he asked one year we went over the tracks so fast i thought i was going to end up inside pizza pizza and there was the incident with the police another year got stopped at a ride check on the tenth line headed for your parade he said had a hard time explaining the red nose and reindeer- powered vehicle but i think one of the officers recognized me and let me off with a warning he got something extra in his stocking the kids who tossed candy canes at santa in front of stouffville canadian tire didnt fare as well nothing for those bad boys mr glaus said in fact one of them looked a lot like you little jimmy youre a lot taller than you appear in the paper arent you your cell phones breaking up santa i said put that on your christmas list see you saturday jini mason is editor of the sun- tribune