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paxe 2 the tribune thursday march 30 1972 kft ithbune 4 established lssff charles h nolan publisher james thomas associate publisher and editor robert mocalsland advertuine manager published every thursday by inland publishing co limited at 54 main st stoufvile on tel 6102101 single copies 15c subscriptions s600 per year in canada s1000 elsewhere member of audit bureau ol circulation canadian weekly newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0896 editorial garfield must go for almost all local politicians this is a year when they must go to the people if they wish to retain their positions un fortunately such is not the case for the most senior local politician garfield wright when york region was formed mr wright was appointed chairman for two terms he will remain in office until elections are held in 1974 this might be a good time to review mr wrights record and start looking for a replacement chairman for the 1972 74 term mr wright has failed to provide the major necessity of his office leadership it has become increasingly apparent of late that the chairman simply does not have what it takes to run the council at a finance committee meeting march 17 and again at a council meeting march 23 mr wright completely lost all control as a result debate went around in endless futile circles the former occassion was the first time we have seen regional council hissed by the public not all of this is mr wrights fault but as chairman he must shoulder a major share of the blame when there is any leadership given to council it comes from members of council notably mayors illingworth and roman and councillor don plaxton it has come from chief administrator jack rettie it has not been provided by garfield wright not having been elected mr wrights only solid responsibility is to the minister who appointed him hon darcy mckeough perhaps it is not surprising that some of the chairmans most em phatic utterances have been in defense of mr mckeough the department and senior provincial officials this however achieves little for york region the chairman may be a very amiable fellow good old garf and may have outstanding ability in certain fields we do not claim to know on what basis mr wright was selected but he is not suited to the leadership of regional council with a budget totalling more that 24 million dollars the region cannot afford indecisiveness there are many crucial problems facing council many decisions to be taken which will have farreaching effects just muddling through is not good enough the ontario government has com mitted itself to regionalization bill 102 forming york region was an important step in this process but theres nothing sacred about it perhaps if mr mckeough were to approve an amend ment and appoint a new chairman he might start seeing far better results from his 1971 experiment local identity important the new toronto international airport thats the tag queens park has at tached to the project although the site is several miles from metro why not pickering airport or claremont or altona or stouffville surely if the area affected is forced to bear some of the disadvantages that a venture of such size will create then it should also be considered when a few of the benefits are handed out local identity in our opinion ranks high on the benefit list but to date in spite of the volume of words spoken on the issue not one that we can recall has even mentioned this very important fact the same goes for the new city of cedarwood by what right cedarwood why not cedar grove since according to the queens park map that com munity as we know it today will be virtually annihilated the very least the residents should expect is the preser vation of an identity that has survived an entire century while members of parliament and politicians at the municipal level have had little say to date in the planning of either project this is one area where their voices should be heard loud and clear elitw mail dear sir i would like to comment upon the in spiring closing lines of your editorial march 9 concerning the proposed airport site you said now is not the time for wailing and gnashing of teeth its a time to face up to reality oh how very very right you are i only wish i had been able to read those words a week earlier and avoided the headache and nervous tension which resulted from my own three days of wailing and gnashing of teeth i would like to add my voice to yours and urge yes even plead with all those tribune readers who have not yet done so to quit wailing and gnashing their teeth and face reality our governments have named an airport site in pickering township this is reality that it will effect the lifestyles of all of us in the surrounding municipalities as well as the people whose homes are to be bulldozed under is reality but the fact that canada is a democratic nation populated by a free people is also a reality so those of us affected have a choice to make 1 we can prepare to move to a new and distant location where we can create a lifestyle similar to the one we now enjoy 2 we can stay and passively accept whatever the gods in queens park decree or 3 we can stay and use all the democratic processes available to us to protest this plague thinly disguised in the garb of economic progress i oppose the airport i am not convinced that a second international airport for ontario is necessary i question the value of the accompanying urban buildup the air pollution the noise pollution the very bigness of the scheme i submit that bigger does not mean better whether it be with industry school boards regional governments cities or airports i suggest that the prime purpose of man in his short lifetime is not to become a bigger and better producer or a bigger and better consumer if that is the only goal worth striving for then we have become very shortsighted indeed and deserve the ulcers the mental stress the pollution the growing rate of petty crime the apathy the loss of dignity the senseless violence these impersonal giants breed in this democratic country it is possible to fight two governments davis says that his government listens to the people so lets give him something to listen to we can start by flooding his mail box and those of both our federal and provincial members of parliament with letters of protest both governments will listen it is a federal election year and thats a reality too eleanor todd goodwood dear mr thomas if face up to reality is what we in pickering township should do what about the tribune with about l 000 of its faithful readers expropriated another 1000 moving to get away from the hectic mess that used to be our beautiful peaceful countryside how are you planning to make the best of it somehow i cant see not fighting for what i believe in grass trees birds animals and quiet countryside means more to me than noise pollution and strips of cement mrs john alfred pegg claremont rr2 dear sir your apathetic attitude regarding the supposed inevitability of the proposed pickering airport sickens me and does great diservice to the community this airport is neither desirable nor inevitable if built it would create considerable pollution and congestion and completely destroy the heritage and coherence of the region stouffville the future crossroads of the world as your editorial page suggests you dreamer does the present village of malton even remotely resemble such a thing stouffville 1980 will be a noisy smelly semidepressed area trapped between two long runways and continually belched upon by those powerful beautiful handcrafted metallic beasts you seemingly idolize local businesses will profit little all hotels and industry would be located far to the south and few air travellers would ever set foot in town since probably 90 percent of all trips would either originate or end in metro fortunately however the airport can and will be stopped as have other mis- planned airports near other large cities such as london england and min neapolis minnesota it requires only a cohesive group of determined people willing to pool their time and talents with or without the support of the local newspaper editor glenn tarver rr3 stouffville dear sir who could be worse off than the people who have homes in the claremont airport area and are having them expropriated the answer is the people who live on dicksons hill at the end of the runway and are not being expropriated imagine jets taking off right over your house and only 500 feet in the air as they reach highway 48 the residents of the 40 homes on the hill are talking of putting up 25000 each to create a 10000 jackpot it is not un natural to anticipate that some of the jets wont make it off the end of the runway and will demolish two or three homes at a time the surviving owner wins the 10000 and uses it to obtain a new head transplant the old head would be useless as the eyes would be gone watching waves on the tv from the vibrating antennas the ears would be silent having been bombarded with regular takeoffs and the voice would be shot through complete lack of use as well as the throat having been coated with tons of pollutants is anyone at queens park or ottawa listening ronaid ap moran rr2 markham dear sir i find it extremely difficult to un derstand the complacency in your at titude towards acceptance of a new airport can you imagine what it would be like living where there were no birds or wild animals to be seen where blue sky was never visible because of the haze of pollution apart from that our government is about to demolish the communities where the airport is going to be situated destroy them just like dropping a bomb part of our heritage gone forever we have so many beautiful old buildings homes farms churches and schools that we should all be striving to preserve a lot of these structures were built in the early 1800s and in a country as new as canada a very important part of our history something we should be proud of think i believe in progress and planning for the future but not by being destructive in a manner which the proposed airport will surely be if the airport is built we are respon sible and we should all feel ashamed of ourselves for allowing it to happen i dont want to feel guilty do you joan blackwell rr3 stouffville dear sir in your editorial on the airport site controversy you direct those of us who will lose our homes and our way of life to stop wailing and face reality it is regretful in my view that you regard our search for accurate in formation and access to government research as weeping and wailing is it mere selfpity to force two levels of government to justify a project of this horrendous proportion which will uproot and displace a generation of people with arrogance highhandedness and ultra- secretiveness they are attempting to displace us and destroy the flavour and the character of an area becoming more precious and unique with each passing year and this from governments which spout the slogans people before transportation and participitory democracy fuddle duddle as to facing reality sir i believe we are doing just that we are facing the reality of insufficient arable land to feed the worlds population by the year 2000 while governments wish to put 43000 acres of the best under pavement and houses we are facing the reality of a surging megalopolis of unrelieved population density without open space or greenbelt areas we are facing the reality that the airport maybe obsolete in 10 years where then will they build the next one how big will it be with our rural uniqueness gone how hollow it will sound to say we were wrong unity at last by jim thomas i attended an ecumenical service at markham sunday evening the worship that joined together six denominations under one roof for a single purpose was held in the beautiful auditorium of st patricks roman catholic church for me it had to be the ultimate in a personal religious experience for i had never as much as visited an r c church before let alone worshipped in one quite a thrill whether we like to admit it or not most protestants have through past generations looked on our roman catholic brothers with inbred feelings of mistrust and no wonder with all the weird and frightening stories that have been handed down as a lad i used to think of a priest as some kind of boogeyman who when you werent watching would grab you by the seat of the pants and hide you away in a deep dark dungeon thats why i suppose i always stayed clear of any father whose first name started with a capital f perhaps similar terrible tales have been told about the presbyterians the baptists and the anglicans i hope not for its taken me thirty years to learn the truth on sunday i shared the same pew with one we read from the same prayer of confession we listened to the same anthems we sang from the same song sheet and so did 800 others no restrictions no prejudices no barriers six denominations as one unity at last where theres hope theres life dear sir re your article reclaiming gravel pits march 16 1972 point of clarification in regards to your article where you stated that a mr stephen c north and mr anthony r laws were associated with consolidated sand and gravel this is incorrect both mr north and mr laws are principals of an environmental control firm of lwds and are not in any way con nected with csg our present combined interest is that csg own gravel pits in the uxbridge area and that they could be suitable for our process if all the necessary approvals were obtained i sincerely hope this will be noted in the next issue of your paper anthony r laws apid dear mr thomas since the announcement that a new international airport is proposed for an area near stouffville i have had the opportunity to research the effects i conclude that we have nothing to gain and much to lose housing and land prices will drop unless close to the terminal existing homeowners will take the worst beating because they cannot alter the zoning farms zoned rural will also depreciate in price stouffville situated between two flight paths will be in the noise zone the people of stouffville markham richmond hill goodwood gormley and claremont are being required to accept these economic and social losses to convenience those few canadians who can afford to travel frequently i trust the tribune will inform its readers in the area that they can an ticipate a drop in property values if the airport project goes ahead l d almack claremont r r 2 face reality you say we are sir so that my childrens children will not have to ask where can we play respectfully sir to see the value of land only in terms of money is also becoming obsolete if we are to survive as a race on this planet the worth of our wild and gently rural areas must be judged by how they affect the souls and minds of men please help us stop the airport william b cowls whitevale ontario i