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1 o stoujjvitte suntribune thursday may 19 2005 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stoutrville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debbra kelly business manager robert lazurko director production interactive media john futhey advertising director retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci distribution director circulation jbdrry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean editorial conservatives should blame stephen harper shes being called a traitor a sellout and a blatant opportunist and those are just the descriptions we can print conservative leaning internet blogs are filled with much harsh er sexist language theres no doubt newmarketaurora mp belinda stronach knew she would be called a few names when she shocked the nation with her decision to abandon the tories and join the governing liberals the very party she riled against over the scandalous adscam upheaval in her own riding ifs tory faithful who were pirrning their hopes on ms stronach to pull out another win in an impeding election who are most hurt but those who are so stung by ms stronachs startling defection should look at why she left a party she hoped would become an alternative to the omnipresent liberal party in short blame conservative leader stephen harper arid his partys inability to embrace a moderate small c conserva tive such as ms stronach irs clear ms stronach was hoping to make the newly forged conservative party a political force that could attract voters across the country ifs also clear ms stronach was at odds with social conservatives in the party but most importantly she opposed mr harpers desire to bring down the minority liberal government by voting against the budget today she stated publicly she believed the conservatives would lose a june election and after making her decision she said an election now would only give the bloc quebecois more power which could bolster separatist sympathies as ms stronach said she simply couldnt vote against the liberal budget today if it would trigger an election that could lead to even greater instability mr harper himself said he saw it coming knowing she was unhappy he was waiting for ms stronach to leave the party so why didnt he try to stop her is it because he saw her as a rival to his leadership or was it more personal ms stronachs departure is mr harpers loss clearly the party has been weakened without her and its a consid erable coup for the rival liberals but worse for canadians even liberal supporters is that ms stronachs dream of a viable alternative to canadas liberal party has been stalled ms stronachs decision shows the harper conservatives are not ready to battle the grits across the country and thafs bad for canadian democracy children5art atlatchalvl gallery may 128 2005 letters to the editor veterans who fought at flanders remembered on park gates an important milestone in the history of our community slips quietly by the actual anniversary of the first world war in the fields of flanders in belgium you remember the place john mccrae wrote about in his famous poem something about if you break faith with us who die we will not sleep did you know canadians witnessed the first chlorine gas attack ever that day and having seen the carnage pressed on to take their objective they were pulled back and sent twice again into the jaws of death its not out on game boy yet but ill let you know when i see it thankfully the people of stouffville saw fit to honour them by inscribing the names of the 52 cit izens who served and the five who died on the gates entering memorial park in downtown stouffville many of the ancestors of those brave men and women still reside in the community they should visit the site soon before it becomes memorial street or perhaps memorial subdivision thanks to plans for our growing community were lucky to have people in whitchurch- stouffville truly interested in the history of the community and in saving its old buildings and i guess mats all those winters stouffville the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters ah submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville 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 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom mayor supporters shouldnt apologize re town hall theatre rejected april 7 and letter to the editor mayor owes councillors apology over theatre comments may 5 in reference to david proberts letter would he rather we supporters of a theatre for stouffviiles old town hall hooted hollered and jeered as in parliament at least our audience let everyone have their say before we passed comments if we want a theatre in town we need to put our energy into moving ahead this has been more than 10 years of wasted energy nasty letters are not productive if we want to realize our community dream it is now time to con centrate on what will work not what wont work mayor sherban does not need to apologize for what she said because everyone else on the dais had their time to express their opinion and none were cut short congratulations mayor you had the guts to speak your piece we are always in favour of our one constitution- al right freedom of speech bunny bruce burton stouffville editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrngcom administration office manager vivian oneil voneilyrngcom events management shows bonnie rondeau bmndeauyrngcom production manager pam nichols pnicholsyrngcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrngcom retail manager stacey allen sallenyrngcom managing director new business flyer sales dawna andrews daiulrewsyrngcom new business manager steve kane skaneyrngcom managing director real estate mike rogerson mrogersonyrngcom editorial 9056402612 fax9056408778 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353fax 9058531765 distribution 90594 canadian ontartol calculations lueld pre audit board member condi suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper trie suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and triornhill vaughan citizen the economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora stouffville suntribune georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing off the top with jim mason- cancer hits home even during a championship the clubhouse at rolling hills golf and country club rocked into sunday morning a raucous band 500 people and a beautiful cause will do that its the wonder of stouffville party goers said all night where else do you sell out an event in days without a poster a newspaper notice or main street billboard they came to support their friends the madigan family through the rough est of times parents pat and sandy madigan have both suffered with cancer the dastardly disease currently play ing havoc with sandys health knows too many people in whitchurch- stouffville- canadian health care may pay the hospital bills but there are other expenses for people unable to work stouffville knows a very similar event for cancer sufferer brad stevens and his family was also a hit two years ago childhood pals of the madigans from scarborough mingled with friends from the stouffville amateur hockey league stouffville spirit jr a team and the stouffville figure skating club they shared high school tales and stories of hockey games they bid in the auction 775 for an autographed ed belfour jersey from keitli actons game of our lives ii another cancer charity event and bought raffle tickets earlier that night stouffviiles jim veltman sat back in his cubicle at the air canada centre a thick coat of sweat and ugly bruises covering his body the cap tain of the toronto rock and his mates were celebrating the teams fifth national lacrosse league champi onship in its seven years cigars were lit up and champagne swigged by men in crisp ball caps and tshirts proclaiming the new title veltman the best lacrosse player in the world according to teammate and former stouffville resident glenn clark talked about the new players experienc- ing their first tide he spoke of team and commitment then he talked eloquently and care fully of his mentor former rock coach les bartley who would die the next day from cancer in st catharines this was now a celebration of life not sport mr veltman also talked of stouffville his caring neighbourhood and the ben efit for the madigans to which he donat ed one of his own jerseys autographed by the championship roster id love to be there he said but there was celebrating such as it was to do downtown jimmason is editor of the suntribune