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wv_â€"v'â€"â€"â€"v' 6 Stoujfi'ille Sunâ€"Tribune I Saturday, ( hr. 18, 2008 Stouflirille 6290 Main St Stouffville, ON. MA 167 www.yorkregion.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Safety first for rural mail service in Whitchurch-Stouffville Re: Etc-postal worker keeps up fight for rural delivery, Oct 11. This story did not provide your readâ€" ers in Whitchurch-Stoufl‘ville with a fair report. Had Canada Post been contacted for comment, our position would have no doubt made for a more balanced story overall. Your readers should know Canada Post is conducting a safety review of all 843,000 rural mailboxes across the country. In accordance with a government directive, it is our goal to maintain delivâ€" ery to as many of those rural mailboxes as possible. Since 2005, Canada Post has received more than 2,000 health and safety com- plaints from its rural mail carriers. Canada Post is required bylaw to investigate these complaints. HRSDC (the former Labour Canada) has handed down more than 40 rulings involving rural mail safety. Over the past two years, there have been more than 90 traffic accidents involv- ing rural mail carriers and, tragically, three have resulted in fatalities. Canada Post has no intention of reduc- ing service to our rural customers. When HAVE YOUR SAY, STOUFFVILLE b What do you think of this issue? Eâ€"mail jmason@yrmg.com a change is required as a result of safe- ty issues, we meet with each customer individually to discuss their options and receive their feedback. In many cases, we are able to arrive at a solution that is amicable to everyone involved. ' In a situation where customers are required or choose to be centralized into community mailboxes situated as close as possible to their homes, Canada Post will clear snow and ice during the winter months. We look forward to continuing to serve our customers in all rural communities across the country. For any questions or more informa- tion, customers are invited to call our dedicated customer service line at 1-866- 501-1669 or visit Canada Post's website at www.canadapost.ca/ruralmail SCOTT LEWIS (a NA! M M is '1‘ (1 )RP( )RA'I'Ir )N un-Tribune ‘ _ ION 5 PUBLISHER [an Proudfoot Emma IN (lunar I )eboru Kelly “(Isllest MAN/sour Robe/I Lazar/to ELECTION GROUNDHOG DAY.» l)uu-.ci(m,Anvuri ismr. is DisramiriIIm .N’Ir rr/r' I left her Irma litmus I’iii\ii\« (.iNiiui \Ixsxrait lili/‘/’i/lr Election signs were Sign of things to come ou knew something was up, based on the lawn signs. I have covered plenty of elections in the past and you don’t want to put too much stock in these things - the colour- ful signage that adorns lawns and, sometimes, non-lawns in every election campaign. You wonder if the candidate just has a lot of relatives. Or else people are just exhi- bitionists when it comes to their political leanings. You happen to be in a pocket of exhibitionist Conservatives. It's kind of like wandering onto a nude beach. I mean, you just didn't realize they were going to let their political peccadilloes hang out there for all to see. Soon you're driving around. trying to see if there are Liberal or NDP exhibitionists, or maybe Green ones. that just happen to live in other parts of Oak Ridges” Markham. (No offence but for some reason they sound like they might be more fun.) lETTERS POLICY IIie \urt Iribuiie welcomes your letters \II submissions must be less than 400 Words and must nu hide a daytime telephone number. name and address I lie \tm I'ribuiie reserves the right to publish or not publiin and to erlit for 1 him and spat 1' letters to the Editor. The Sun tribune 6290 Main St Stoufivllle. 0N [4A IG7 jmasonOyrmg tom EmmRI/u. Editor lr'm Mason ,IHIIIHIIIIH'I'INIK I UH] But you couldn't seem to find any such pockets. As an observer. you start to count the signs as you drive down the road. You're gauging whether or not the sign is on an actual front lawn. or just over near the curb. planted there on public property by a party supporter. A lawn sign on an actual lawn means a lot. It means votes. maybe a whole household full. A sign on a curb. well. it means a they have more signs than they are able to give away. There seemed to be a lot of big blue signs on real front lawns. I have always believed in the timeâ€"honoured tradition of the secret ballot. So even ifI wasn't in the newspaper business. I would likely keep my party of preference to myself. I'd always be afraid some elee tion would come down to a cliffâ€" hanger in one riding. and after the recount. my guy wins. And then with everything that went wrong frotn then on in. well. ADVERTISING Retail Manager Dianne Mulroney llnlll’IIHIl'Vi/‘W'l mg i om INTERACTIVE M EDIA Marketing 8i Advertising Manager I Mien/1 Andrei: 's r/irrrrlr‘eri'stfi i r we r rrrrl Classified Manager Ron r1 ie Rondenrr Irrnrirlmrrlm‘i'rmi: 1 tin, Bernie O’Neill my neighbours. who don't share my views. could point at my place. that guy over there? He had a (insert colour here) election sign on his lawn. He voted just before the polls closed at 9:29 pm. It was his vote that put them over the top." Then. when the economy goes south. they’re leaving dead chickâ€" ens on my lawn or calling the police for no reason and saying I was dis turbing the peace. 'I‘hat's the kind of stuff you think about. after having seen one too many elections. PRODUCTION Team leader tinmm _ - . n t .Slierr'i' “(1y (3m si/tli'hri'rrIij 41",: .. red”; It , I." *i . :vdtlrd t anmimn ("rotations . Audit Roam Mom hm .s. mun... We were trying to get the eIee tion results to our website 'I'uesday night, and it was tricky. It was such a close race in the one riding that neither of the front runners surfaced until most of you had gone to bed. I must say I always admire the graciousness ofthe person who finâ€" ished second. In Markhamml Inion- ville, Duncan I’Ietcher congratulat- ed his opponent. Iohn McCaIIum and a wellâ€"run campaign. In ()ak Ridgesâ€"~Markbam. lib; eraI I.ui 'I‘emelkovski made the trek tip Ilwy. 48 to Stouffville at I am. to congratulate I’aul (Ialandra. the Conservative who beat him by about 400 votes. 'I‘hat is less than a percentage point ofthe total votes cast. but it is still enough to make it count and at this writing it does not appear there is any talk oia recount. Recounts are only automatic it the spread is 0.1 percent or less. in other words just a handful of votes. not a few hundred What will the results mean It)! the people in Stoufl‘ville. or (ianada in general? It's probably too soon to say \Nhile I would never reveal how I voted. I will say I don't have tutu h of a problem with a minoritv gov ermnent. I'he situation lorces the part\ in power to moderate its positions and I think that's what the niajoiitv of Canadians are after nothinv too radical. 'I‘bat's why the past two wars I would argue. have brought iela tively good govermnent. I‘he ( on servatives have pushed some items through and backed off on oth ers and thats how it should be. In be able to pass legislation that I\ truly unpopular with the majontv of people. just because vou have the majoriton seats. is a weakness olour system. at least sortie ol the time. In the meantime. some ol llirM' (andidates may be renting sonic warehouse spare oi devoting part ola garage to storing their signs to: the next time around let's hope it rloesnt ttrIllt‘ {no \(HIII. , ,.,, , rrirri irrr t/ Sun-Ftbune t) I‘ ( \ » (Im(‘“)“‘}(:<l‘ \ \lnil Is’i innit .\It‘tIIrl ( rioiij‘ r oinnoinax ltx‘ ; ‘ll '\ (v .,',.' _ ‘ the Sun Iribrine. published every Ihursrlay anti Hatred r. .-\l’\ll€ll\l.\(r ‘ill’i (viii ,‘(slf rt\\‘llttl l XIII} Vii MRI ‘u 9H“ (VIII 3 V N Is a drvrsiori ol the Metroland Media Iiitillti IItl a Me“. A ' subsidiary of Iorstar Corporation Metrolanrl l‘» r on‘iv'r w? I00 t.t)lttlllllltllv publications across Ontario the wt he; Newspaper (irorip includes The liberal serving Ru ruin“: it Ihornhrii, Vaughan (‘itixen the Ira Rapper rNewma'tr-t t III\/"IIHI lItr.\ trot (trio mi) Markham Economist 8. Sun (momma {\thm ,III‘ wt i»? Business limes North of the t‘itv filihli‘}‘ltt' and York Region I‘rintjnp