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6 stouffvute suntribune saturday jan 27 2007 suntnbune 6290 main st stouffville on l4a7z5 wwwyoi1aegioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor m chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technoidgy john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnershiis director debra welter york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor lack of flouride goes against child development i went to my new dentist in stouffville this month and was informed by my hygienist the water in whitchurchstouffville is not treated with fluoride at the end of my cleaning she had me rinse with fluoride some thing i have never been asked to do in all the years i have gone to den tists she told me since she began practising in stouffville she had noticed a higher incidence of den tal cavities and tooth decay in chil dren here compared to the toronto practice where she previously worked i have asked my councillor phil bannon to look into this and he said he would raise it at town coun cil i find it hard to understand why any community would accept this situation especially because of the detrimental impact this kind- of decision has on young children kenmackay ballantrae be careful at playground i would like to caution parents to inspect the playground equipment where their children play while playing with my children at the geoffrey crescent parkette monday my fouryear old discov ered what appeared to be icicles all over the slide stairs and below the equipment upon examination it was broken glass approximately a halfinch thick in pieces ranging in size of 1 x 1 inch to 4 x 6 and larger after picking up approximately 20 pieces we were forced to leave and report it to the town of whitchurchstouffvilles parks department as there were several more pieces all over the equipment and underneath it which were hid den under the snow i cannot believe the thoughtless ness of the individuals who created this problem it ruined a very nice day of playing in the snow for my children and others in the neigh bourhood this could have been a very seri ous incident as my son was about to lick the icicle elizabeth macmillan stouffville canadians arent afraid of environmental change right now the environment is hot literally and figura tively much of north america has hardly had a winter this year and the media and politicians have finally caught on to the fact canadians now cite envi ronmental issues as among their biggest concerns you know the environment has become a big deal when albertas own stephen harper starts talking about it hes doing it through grit ted teeth certainly but he knows he has to say something polling shows his party is very vulnerable on the issue as well it should be considering his lame efforts to date but while the public is pushing prime minister harper forward some pundits are pushing him back saying canadians arent ready for real change they insist any leader who tries to make the changes necessary to curb global warming and put canada on the path to being an environmental leader will suffer politically because canadians dont really want to pay for a cleaner envi ronment even if they say they do wrong on at least two accounts first pollution and poor environ mental practices are already costing us dearly in terms of our health and international reputation as well as in cold hard cash we spend bil lions on the health effects of air pol lution alone second canadians know real environmental change can only be accomplished if we all take part that requires domestic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within aglobal framework such as kyoto and it requires changes in rules and laws to ensure we all are play ing on an even field this is the role of government to work with other nations and develop policies domestically to encourage more sustainable choices and behav iours free market ideologues might now be jumping up and down screaming about how government shouldnt interfere in the market david suzuki nonsense as canadas great economic thinker john kenneth galbraith pointed out government has a clear role in making the market work toward a common goal canada as all other industrial ized nations has never had a pure market economy government has always played a role in the expansion and shaping of the canadian economy from the building of the railroad to creation of the auto pact industry responds to more than price signals in the market fiscal policy such as taxes and subsidies as well as regulations also guides decisionmaking in corporate boardrooms the free market wonks are right in saying canadians who really want environmentally sustainable goods and services can already hunt them down and purchase them but the fact so many of us dont choose more sustainable options is not because we dont care or arent willing to pay slightly more for them but because we dont have enough information cant find the best options or dont know where to look and when we do find them because of subsidies or rules favouring the status quo the most sustainable option can be prohibi tively expensive governments role is to advance the public good on the environ ment this means enacting vision ary new laws and policies to move us toward a sustainable economy certainly there would be griping moaning and complaining from some circles but the reality is canadians are tough and practical we know our environmental record stinks and we know global warming is a very serious problem that will harm our health and our economy were willing to pull up our bootstraps to make things hap pen but we need direction from our leaders to ensure everyone plays by the same rules its only fair polls show canadians are gen uinely concerned about our coun trys flagging environmental record and what that means for our health and our future they are expecting politicians at all levels to be upfront pragmatic and committed to work ing toward a more environmentally sustainable future politicians and pundits can squabble amongst each other about the publics appetite for change but the public is already ahead of them and this time lame efforts wont cut it take the suzuki challenge at davidsuzu- kiorg letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribunerescrves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stouffvilleon l4a775 jmasonyrngcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrmgcom assistant editor rick vanderlinde rvaitderllndeyrmgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsyrmgcom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauyrmgcom new business development manager mikerogerson mrogersonyrmgcom production team leader 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