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6 stouffville suntribune thursday jan 8 2004 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonyrngcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial keeping 407 pledge might be possible the liberal government which has seen its campaign promises drop like flies is scrambling to keep its word on hwy407 liberals had vowed to roll back tolls by as much as 60 per cent and in december asked 407 etr to seek their approval before raising tolls 407 international inc announced last week it was raising tolls during peak hours by 1 cent per kilometre to 1395 cents feb 1 despite the provinces claim such a move violates its contract calls for boycotts whether it be on driving the highway or paying the tolls abounded yet the reality is the people have already spoken or driven should we say since the highway was sold tolls have increased between 30 per cent and 203 per cent based on the time of day drivers use the highway yet more than 320000 trips on the road are taken on an average workday up 40 per cent from 1999 when the 99year deal was struck the realities of the market determine what people are willing to pay for some thing they want whether its flatscreen tvs or congestionfree commuting and drivers have proven to the 407 owners despite their squeals of indigna tion theyll take the hit they know driv ing on a wellpaved uncongested high way is saving them gas arid more impor tantly for many time so why would the 407 capitulate now the owners are offering to revive the deal that would lower tolls and adminis tration and transponder fees if the province agrees to return to the practice of not renewing the licence plates of driv ers who arent paying their tolls undoubtedly the 407 owners arent suddenly motivated to do the right thing but they can see hostility by the province to toll hikes and its refusal to force highway users to pay up will surely result in more drivers using the 407 with out paying as it stands more than 8000 drivers owe a total of 15 million and little can be done to prevent them from using the road ironclad contract aside the liberals finally have someone over a barrel despite their desperation to keep another promise from collapsing they should not strike this deal with the 407 but remember parts of the contract come up for renegotiation after this april the liberals may not be able to stop this toll hike but if theyre patient this is one promise they just may be able to keep letters to the editor fear mongering at work during town election campaign i would like to thank the residents of ward 6 in whitchurchstouffville for their support and encouragement shown during my run for coun cil the experience was well worth the effort there were a few election candidates who would have you believe the council- approved growth plan was being rammed through and most residents are against growth at the ballantrae mayoral candidates meeting an area resident asked for attendee hands to be raised in support of no growth less than a dozen in an audience of more than 200 raised their hand in support so much for resident disapproval an article in the oct 23 edition of the toronto star quoted mayoral candidate randy mole as saying our population will triple because of development the planning depart ment determines the population will max at approximately 40000 mr mole was also quoted as saying our main street is in chaos slow to very slow at times it is but its far from chaos in the nov 8 edition of this paper a letter by dan pfaff who said he was taking on the task of being teen spokesperson was full of hyperbole and veiled innuendo for mr pfaff to suggest youth crime results from a lack of policing and teens with nothing to do is erroneous to further suggest massive unchecked devel opment will result in even more serious youth 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 editor34 civic ave r0 box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom crime is unbelievable there is a small percentage of our youth involved in vandalism and other crime the teens themselves know this to be true their majority do not require adult supervi sion or intervention to lead full productive and responsible lives the small percentage who wish to live out side the norm must realize there are laws of social conduct to be obeyed they know the dif ference between what is right and what is wrong to also suggest the face of our town will be foreign with endless subdivisions and limited green space and it will be difficult to tell where markham ends and stouffville begins shows a misunderstanding of the sensitivity of the oak ridges moraine act and secondary plan if you bought into this fear mongering and misuse of information then 1 feel you were done an injustice god willing i will run again in 2006 i believe in stouffville and i know 302 of you believed in me ron snider stouffville f stouffville suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 9056402612 fax9056408778 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregioncom email jmasonyrngcom member ontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press council editor in chief debora kelly editor jim mason reporters joan ransberry hannelore volpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols office manager vivian 0neil business manager robert lazurko advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci managing director real estate mikerogerson director of production john futhey distribution manager barry black sales manager new business development distribution oawna andrews general manager york region printing bob dean director marketing promotions debraweller shows manager stacey allen classified manager ann campbell off the top with jim mason double dipping eight tracks not on agenda for 2004 things i have learned in 2003 and the early days of the new year the sample trays in the deli section of sobeys on main street are not a buf fet line to be savoured or returned to multiple times double dipping dont even think about it thats like putting your whole mouth right in the dip from now on when you take a chip just take one dip and end it as they said on seinfeld nosanfordandson i will phone ahead as per the new rules before placing items at curbside on my stouffville streets bigitem garbage pickup day lest my front yard should look eerily like the setof sanford and son i will not feign midday illness after being at work for three hours even if canada is about to play the united states for world junior hockey suprema cy and theres not a tv with cable access in sight theres something about fireworks like the fine new years eve display in stouffville memorial park that entice us time after time v weve seen them on hundreds of occasions at theme parks canada days and televised gazillion dollar millenni um blowouts from around the world but like car accidents we cannot look away beta is not about to make a come back any time soon one should hearti ly embrace dvds and mp3s wallet fully open as the manufacturers want us to and rebuild the library kg the sunshine band eight tracks anyone get down tonight fluctuating gas prices the price of gasoline will fluctuate from york region community to com munity and day to day with as much consistency as the toronto raptors no matter how low the price it will go lower and no matter how careful i am at the self serve i will spill gasoline on my gloves i should take down my christmas er holiday lights before it is time to put them up again jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune