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stouffvme suntribune saturday sept 15 2007 3 campaign issues week 1 and theyre off just days after the writ is dropped the key issues in ontarios provincial election are already being defined while faithbased schools and the incumbent liberal partys record remain near the top of the list oppo sition parties have also keyed in on other topics from autism funding to job losses premier tours markham dalton mcguinty was in markham tuesday to help markhamunionville mppmichael chan open his campaign office where it quickly became clear the premier doesnt want to talk about his governments record he breezed into the event arriving late and depart ed minutes later without answering questions from the media hampton slams liberals on autism funding ndp leader howard hampton slammed the liberals over autism treatment funding during a campaign stop in richmond hill wednesday the mcguinty liberals have disgraced themselves by breaking their promises to ontarios most vulnerable citizens and families he said noting more than 1000 remain on a waiting list to receive funding for a treatment known as intensive behavioural intervention he was joined at the event by york- simcoe ndp candidate nancy mor rison whose eightyearold son sean has autism cheap shots fly in thornhill things are already turning ugly in a couple of york races thornhill liberal candidate mario racco and his progressive conservative opponent peter shurman are accusing one another of initiating the personal attacks they traded last week mr shur man accused mr racco of staying mum on the faith school funding issue while mr racco countered by badgering mr shurman for not living in the riding tory pledges to address ontar ios doctor shortage and speaking of mr tory among the many pledges and promises this week was his vow to tackle ontarios doctor shortage many of the elements of his pro posal are dead ringers for recommen dations made by the ontario medical association when it released a paper on the topic among them are a better physi cian recruitment strategy and bring ing canadiantrained doctors now practising in the united states back to ontario staff photomike barrett premier dalton mcguinty is greeted by about 70 supporters including markham firefighters at the opening of markhamunibnville liberal candidate michael chans campaign office on crown steel drive in the warden and 14th avenue area tuesday night only 48 hours into a 30day provincial election campaign and its clear time is of the essence y witness premier dal- ton mcguintys barn storm- ing pit stop tuesday night at markhamunionville liberal mpp michael chans cam paign office opening scheduled for 730 pm the premier couldnt be blamed for being fashionably tardy after all his day began in ottawa where he rolled out his plan to give students more access to tutoring and online home work help while party faithful and volunteers waited sardinelike in the foyer mr chan antici pated mr mcguintys arrival as would any host anxiously awaiting his alist guests this is tremendous mr chan said his dropping in to our riding is very special im overwhelmed among the 70 or so attend ees agpodportion weremedia the premiers advance team wouldnt or couldnt confirm if mr mcguinty would enter tain questions from reporters conspicuous in yellow t- shirts were 14 men fining the entrance their spokesperson firefighter association local 2727 president walter brin- ston was more than pleased chris traber to explain the 236member markham union is supporting mr chan michael is willing to lis ten to and get educated on our issues so he can make informed decisions mr brinr ston said to pacify we media types during the increasingly warm wait handlers distributed a release about the premiers yettooccur visit we read a media missive written in the past tense about an event yet to have a presenj let alone a future this campaign is a water shed a clear choice between our vision of the future or the same old conservative approach a choice between strengthening public services or putting them at risk the prepackaged material predict ed from mr mcguinty ontario liberals fight for publicly funded education for publicly funded health care foretells mr chan with time ticking the play ers are executing a hurryup runandgun offence with little regard for onfield propriety its meet greet and beat a hasty retreat finally the campaign bus arrives and nondescript rally music kicks in the premier wades through the crowd gripping and grinning remi niscent of a prize fighter en route to the ring he tries to bring the afore mentioned media material to fruition the conservatives want to take half a billion dollars from our publicly funded schools and divert it to private religious schools he said thats a bad idea thats why this election is a choice between moving for ward with the ontario liberals or going backwards under the conservatives good night and awash in adulation and loud chants of four more years mr mcguinty and entourage wqre on the bus answers to the prickly questions about markhams growth traffic woes doctor shortages poverty and home- lessness will have to wait slam bang thank you mr chan thats campaigning on the fly whos running in oak ridgesmarkham whitchurchstouffvilles riding bllllil k5 v mm phdlbannon progressive conservative wwwphilbannonca janice hagan new democratic party httpontariondpcomnode1473 dr helena jaczek liberal wwwliberal2007comvotehelena pat redmond family coalition party wwwfamilycoalitionpartycom for candidate biographies visityorkregioncom kb hi uimkkj 5ih jflhbntigjfwir t jpyih h this fall look and feel your best from head to toe at medispa clinic on main full service spa and medispa aesthetics laser hair removal treatment of age spots facial veins fine lines and wrinkles sclerotherapy botox and fillers manicure pedicure registered massage therapist new september specials laser hair removal underarms or bikini just 49 reg 150 microdermabrasion jast 99 reg 150 medispa clinic on main 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