The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 stattpillesuhihbune m wednesday december 26 2007 suntribune 6290 main st stoufmieonl4alg7 wwwyorkregioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology johnfuthey dhiector advertising york region printing distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko general manager bob dean editorial growth still biggest issue facing york york region and most suburban communities surrounding toronto has grown rapidly over the past 10 years and will continue to face difficult chal lenges where leadership and vision will be paramount yorks population will top 15 million by 2031 as more and morepeople busi nesses and institutions call our region home growth affects how we live work and play and crosses all paths transporta tion education transit housing gov ernment health care the environment business and public safety with the provinces mandated places to grow scheme where development is geared to curb urban sprawl and allow moire people to live and work without long commutes local politicians must smart plan for a sustainable future and bigger citizen demands for services for example while other areas in the greater toronto area are experiencing declines or plateaus in school enrol ment york regions schools are facing growth with the provinces deadline for a 20pupil cap on primary classrooms looming yorks school boards have been forced to do some quickstepping to comply local governments too are facing the challenge of meeting demands for services as populations climb as far as transit is concerned with a pair of subways on the way announce ments for new funding rolling in and allday train service on the horizon its not going too far to say transit is defi nitely going to be an area of continued growth when it comes to business residen tial growth often outstrips commercial by a twotoone margin that means many of yorks munici palities will need to tread lightly in the coming years if they are to strike a bal ance and have enough local jobs to keep commuters off already clogged highways as york continues to grow it must also deal with a lack of energy resources a problem that spans the province one practice is the use of energy star standards for new homes vaughan and east gwillimbury have already imple mented energy star standards for all new residential subdivisions violent crime along with guns and gangs have been identified by residents as two of the top public safety priorities in york region traditionally traffic and road safety has been the no 1 concern for resi dents according to police chief armand la barge but it now sits third lets hope elected officials at all levels have the vision during these crucially important times to look outside the box and beyond their boundaries to plan smarter communities are you smarter than an 07 newsmaker welcome to are you smarter than a york region news maker im your host jeff skunkswbr- thy and our contestant is bucky jo remog bucky will answer questions so easy small children monkeys and some hollywood celebrities know the answer but you will have the help of some of the key figures in top york region news stories from 2007 and they will mess up your mind so badly you just might make the same kind of stupid selfdefeat ing choices they did so where do you want to start bucky bjr ill take that there kinder gartenlevel priority settin js ok bucky for this question you will have the help of the entire council of vaughan heres the question what is the most impor tant responsibility of a municipal politician is it a ensuring resi dents receive quality services at the most equitable tax rate b ensuring an equitable distribution of party invitations c thoroughly tracking everyones email or d glomming as much personal travel as possible on someone elses dime bjr well i reckon the answers a all that services and taxes stuff js now are you sure you want to answer that quickly you dont seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer and we have lots of cheats for you you could peek at vaughan coun cils work especially if they email it you could copy their answers you can poll the audience you can ask a friend you can consult the magic 8 ball you can take whats behind door no 2 or you can give up look straight into that camera and declare i am too stupid to live and walk away bjr no jeff i reckon im right js are you sure bucky i can tell you none of the members of vaughan council chose the same answer you did bjr that settles it im lockin in answer a providin services and controllin taxes js well lets look at vaughan dave teetzel councils answers most said b one said d one said none of the above another said youre a doodyhead and still another said i know you are but what am i but theyre all wrong youre right bucky you have won 5 and can pick your next category bjr i reckon ill take junior kin dergarten criminal law for 10 js great and here to help you is york regions keenest legal mind convicted murderer richard wills heres your question what is the best defence strategy when you are facing serious criminal charges do you a present a tight coher ent case based on solid facts and testimony that will raise reasonable doubt about the crowns case b brandish a key piece of evidence over your head and use the trial to shamelessly draw attention to yourself c soil yourself d who cares as long as you can stick the ontario taxpayer with your legal bill bjr well i reckon i know some thing bout this cause i got into a mess o trouble a while back with my slingblade i think its probably a cause its got big words in it js before you lock in your answer you should know rich ard is by his own admission the smartest person in the history of the world and he did everything but answer a bjr i reckon hes the smartest guy in prison i aint listening to him js well bucky youre on a roll choose your category for the 20 question bjr ill take obedience school level accountability js your helper is east gwillim bury mayor james young heres the questionyou get caught chop ping down all the trees on your neighbours property whats your response a you did what b apol ogize then tell everyone you didnt do it c blame fellow councillors staff the media and black jacques shellac d open a christmas tree farm bjr well i reckon them fellers in east gwillimbury is pretty smart im gonna go ahead and copy the mayors answer js ok lets see the mayors answer uh oh the mayor answered the question but the town wouldnt release his answer theres just a note here saying the town thinks he was probably wrong im sorry bucky you dont win any money and you need to look into the camera and say i am not smarter than a york region news maker or maybe just nod your head and drool letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 100 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 6290 main st stouffville on l4a ig7 jmasonyrmgcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonynngcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandretvsynngcom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallcnynngcom classified manager ann campbell acampmlynngcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondcauynngcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrmgcom fdsac ar4ltltfl4 canadbn aumboam mender ccab editorial 9056402612 f 9056408778 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353 f 9056408778 distribution 9056402612 suntribune 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 thornhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregfoncom and york region printing