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6 stouffville suntribune b thursday march 1 2007 istouffvsle suntnbune 6290 main st stouffvilte on l4a 7z5 wwwyorkreoncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra wetter york region printing general manager bob dean editorial here is the 1 solution given a choice between paying a penny of gst less on every dollar you spend or having fewer potholes on the roads less chance of having a chunk of overpass fall on your head better transit to ease traffic congestion and generally improved municipal services which would you pick yup thats what most other people would probably say too thats why toronto mayor david millers idea to have one of the six remain ing percentage points of gst turned over to municipalities is a much better course of action than simply cutting the gst by another percentage point as the harper federal government has previously promised the modern reality is that municipal government is the level that touches our lives most directly every day whether it is the policing and fire services that help keep us safe the street cleaning that determines the attractiveness of our surroundings the recycling and other environmental services that have become so timely and important the maintenance and improvement of our urban infrastruc ture of roads bridges and amenities such as parks or the delivery of social services that do so much to shape the quality of urban life for all of us all this in this era of downloading is now the responsibility of our municipal and regional governments the need for funding for all this and more is particularly acute here in york region where our rapid growth creates an ever expanding demand for services while at the same time there is no reliable source of money to pay for them other than prop erty taxes those taxes in turn cannot be increased much without causing individ ual hardship as well as slowing the pace of development on the other hand the gst much as it is disliked has become a tremendous source of public sector cash while being such an accepted fixture in daily lives lets face it how much has the recent cut in the gst by a percentage point from 7 per cent to 6 per cent really improved your existence do you find yourself cheering that your taxes are lower now every time you go to the store meanwhile though the cut has stripped some 5 billion a year from feder al revenues to no ones readily apparent benefit the further onepercentagepoint cut in the gst that has been promised by canadas new government as they con tinue calling themselves would accom plish the same rninimal effect if the harper government really wants to do something new and creative it should pick up on this excellent idea that would actually improve the quality of life here in york region and everywhere across canada letters to the editor schools peace garden angel not immune from vandalism re the ultimate in small town vandalism col umn by jim mason feb 22 mr masons column prompted me to further add to his most eloquent words sadly st brigid catholic elementary school fell victim to vandalism recently when its peace garden was violated this garden was thoughtfully placed in the front of the school where it is well lit and faces a main street millard for a very good reason it was to deter hooligans from tampering with it this thoughtful consideration was marred when a concrete angel we thought was perma nently staked into the ground was recently behead ed i imagine decapitating a concrete statue would require some muscle and malicious intent no accident here lets promote random acts of kindness not ran dom acts of vandalism janet montesano stouffville thanks to paper recyclers for spreading green word editors note be sure to check out reuseful on our website wwwyorkregioncom i moved to stouffville from toronto in late 2005 and i was very impressed to see that the sun- tribune ran david suzukis columns on a regular basis to be honest i didnt expect a smalltown the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all 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 6290 main st stouffville l4a 1g7 email jmasonyrngcom or fax 9056408778 newspaper in the 905 would give such promi nence to environmental issues now even stephen opt out of kyoto harper is attempting to appear green though its clear we all have to become more environmentally aware and responsible taking even small steps is better than doing nothing at all for example theres an organiza tion free to join called freecycle that operates on the web in towns and cities across north america its a great way to recycle items you no longer need you offer things free for the taking and in turn can offer to pick up items that interest you this is a far better solution than throwing out things to clog up landfills and wasting precious resources to create more stuff stouffville current ly has 269 members and you can also join say the larger auroranewmarket group go to httpfreecycleorg for more informa tion through freecycle ive been able to find homes for all sorts of household objects that would otherwise have ended up in the trash marielynn hammond stouffville off the top with jim mason sorry theatre fans but its hockey season in stouffville sorry but we arent hockeyville that handle dished out annually by a cheese maker to the town in the nation with the best hockey sense sure we have some puck pedigree with the multitude of rinks indoors and out and championship banners in our past but whitchurchstouffville didnt give birth to the game as kingston and some inlet in the maritimes claim to have with apologies to the local theatre crowd this is a hockey town for now but with further apologies to the hockey heads our entire existence does not evolve around what happens on the ice at ninth line and recreation lane youve seen cbcs hockey day fea tures the ones showing personalities and entire communities that appear to live out of the local ice box towns on the prairies survive or die with or without the existence of a local arena it defines them unites them sure we have our moments stouffville has no larger citizen than keith acton the local boy turned legend who has played or coached in the nhl since 1980 he went from our back yard rinks to a stanley cup nhl allstar game and the world championships this town will back anything he is behind from his pair of charity hockey games and golf tourneys to banquets and ball games and about this time each year this town reverts to its past shooting large crowds into the rink for junior and minor hockey playoffs this is as good a time as any the spirit jr a team hosts collingwood tonight in the second round of the provincial league playdowns stouffvilles clipper atom minor bantam and juvenile squads con tinue their quest for ontario minor hockey association alevel titles at home this weekend bundle up see you at the rink stouffville jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune letters policy thcsuniyibune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribuncrcscrvcs the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stoufmhe on l4a7z5 jmasondyrngcom editorial editor jimmason jmasonyrmgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsqyrmgcom advertising retail manager stacey allen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauyrmgcom new business development manager mike rogerson mrogersonyrmgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrmgcom fdsaj canaduo onijsonj moitw editorial 9056402612 fax9052941583 advertising 9056402612 classified i8007433353 fax 9052941538 distribution 9056402612 suntnbune a york region media group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a division of the metroland media group ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 100 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing