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6 stouffville suntribune saturday march 10 2007 suntnbune 6290 main st stouffville on l4a 7z5 wwwyoritfegioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief deborakjelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distrlbution barry black director circulation systems lynnpashko york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor hospital parking expensive inconvenient over the last couple of months we had to make a series of trips to markham stouffville hospital and the adjacent med ical centre we were pleased with the quality of ser vice and almost nonexistent lines one of us even made it to the mri on a days notice we are so fortunate to have this hospital in our community but i am afraid thats where the acco lades end because outside its quite a dif ferent story every time we enter the park ing lot and are forced to go through the same gambling routine of getting a parking pass the hospital loses credibility most of the time it requires running between three or four stations to weed out machines that do not work are out of change refuse to accept perfectly good bank notes or fail to return coins when it cant print a pass being seniors we empathize with the elderly people most of them already having a hard time getting around who are forced to struggle across icy patches in search of a machine that works and then back to their cars to put this sticker on the dashboard as a rule people our age do not enjoy fumbling with automated equipment let alone trying to figure out how little parking we will get for our money that is not clear ly shown until the ticket comes out there fore most of us tend to overpay to avoid getting liit with a nasty fine to make sure everybody is aware its 5 for an hour and as very few visits are less than that we often take the next step for another 5 just to be sure its more than we have ever paid to park in the centre of toronto its also equivalent to a days gro ceries for some it puzzles us why there should be a parking fee at all throughout markham and stouffville there is not a single medical centre doctor or dental office charging for parking and many have limited or shared spaces we could accept a nominal charge for maintenance of the lot and the former method seemed equitable we were charged for actual time used taking into consideration seniors and other special sit uations we have been informed this is con trolled by an outside agency and the hos pital only gets a portion of the take while we agree markham stouffville should get all the financial support possi- ble it is also our view it would be better served by returning to the original parking system which would rekindle our desire to support the hospital as we have done since it opened bill and jean geraats unionville hope emerges as crosscountry tour comes to end exhaustion exhilaration selfdoubt it seems like ive been assailed by these emotions daily on my crosscanada bus tour with up to three speaking events a day along with a constant barrage of media interviews punctuated by hours of driving on the open road the emotional peaks and valleys are truly draining but of this much i am certain this is a great country looking out across the vast windblown blanket of snow the prairies are hypnotic and yet i cant help think that in spite of the vastness of this land and the great distances between us canadians seem to share a com mon set of values i have been lucky enough to have experienced first hand canadians i have learned have a profound love of our land and our natural spaces and they want to take care of them for our children and grandchildren they feel asif they are already seeing the early stages of global warming and are concerned about what it will mean for the future they want to help to do their part and they have an innate sense of fairness we should all be doing our share the passion with which people have expressed their views has been at times overwhelming but these stories are the very reason why we did this tour it started with a seed of an idea long before tv cars or cellphones entertainers would load a tent and all their regalia on wagons and move from town to town when their tents went up peo ple gathered to share ideas as well as music acrobatics and theatre eventually a permanent site for annual gatherings was established in chautauqua ny and it became a magnet for people wanting to engage in public discourse a few years ago i began to float a modified version of a chautauqua why not take our ideas on the road i suggested going to communities david suzuki to find out their concerns and to talk about emerging global environ mental issues the idea took root in recent months as during the past year reports about water shortages fires floods heat waves and hurricanes suddenlyshowed us such problems were no longer just happening somewhere else they were happen ing at home too as the inuit have been telling us global warming can no longer be seen as a slow motion catastrophe they are seeing it happen in the arctic right now in addition al gores film an inconvenient truth had an explo sive impact on the public psyche while books such as tim flannerys the weathermakers and george montbiots heat ramped up public awareness and concern about cli mate change so we started planning but we knew we couldnt just blow through communities we needed the con versation to carry on after we left our hope was to act as a catalyst to conversation a dialogue about community provincial federal and international issues starting at the local level we contacted local community groups in cities on our proposed route and asked if they would part ner with us and organize the events to enable us to gather with local people those local organizations have been amazing and critical to the success of the tour when we set off from st johns nfld we had no idea what to expect but the response has been incredible to date we have recorded hun dreds of video testimonies from people telling us what they would do for the environment if they were prime minister and we have col lected thousands of ballots voting for the environment sustained applause and intense discussion during the question and answer sessions indicates to me a hunger for such discourse and a desire for real action from our poli- ical leaders so here we are nearing the end of the tour having met with people in dozens of communities across this vast country its an experience i wish i could- share with everyone because it has changed my life next month i celebrate my 71st year filled with new hope and opti mism for the people of this country me the suzuki challenge at wwwdavid- suzukiorg letters policy the suntribune welcomes your loners all submissions must be less ihan 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribiincrcscrvcs the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space utters to the 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