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QEIN "LC (SUV-Tribune DIRECTOR. MARKETING AND Suns 905-640-26I2 “12905-640‘8778 Clay»: 1-800- 743-3353 DISTRIBUTION 1-855-853-5613 Dnuscmn. Rmnowu. Plenum AND Cussmnn Debra Weller DI I. 303mm ISSUE: hberal iceâ€"storm gift- Anumlmlmon card plan falls shorl for York Rom" L‘mm‘" Region ice storm victims. Aflsubmlsdommunbe hammowotdsand W'W The Sun-mount moushed every. Thursday. is 3 am 01 the Mainland Media 6mm Ln. 0 Molyâ€" ouned 50W 0cm mme'andadthesa'mc gem-mm non mxhhmdmedh fixdafltyam‘lspaoe. £me Ennon IN CHIEF Debora Kelly Dane Williams du-imamsfiyrmgrom York Region Media Group community dkvlbil'wmgrom Iim Mason [nmom-‘yrmgmom Dluml. DISTRIBUTION Tanya Pacheco Daphne Lawn'e dlau Wittgmm Gard Paolucci PRODUCHON lackie Smart lETTERS POLICY F0! all your delivery Inquiries. please Dnmcmn. EDITORIAL Gift-card offer seems like after-thought for York hile it was some- what heart- warming to see the private and public sectors work together to provide help to those hit hardest by the Dec. 22 ice_storm. something leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Following days without power and vague updates on the status of the restoration efforts from Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne and other officials. it seemed help was at hand for the approximately 300,000 Toronto residents left shivering in the dark from the wintery blast that swept through the GTA the weekend before Christmas. The much-needed assis- tance came in the form ofgift cards. $842,000 worth. pur- chased through a combination of corporate largesse and gov- ernment funds ' When Dec. 31 arrived and gift cards became available. chaos reigned at the 15 Ontario Works offices designated pick-up sites » A day that began as a photo- op with Ms Wynne handing out food hampers to storm-addled residents descended into a pub- lic relations disaster as the gift card giveaway led to long lines. lost tempers and a lot of people going home empty-handed. Ms Wynne later conceded there simply aren't $842,000 worth of grocery gift cards up for grabs. Some 8.500 families were evean given aid but ques- tions arose about whether those outside of 'Ibronto would receive assistance. That question was answered earlier this week as the gov- ernment announced plans to distribute grocery gift-cards to other G'I‘A municipalities impacted by the storm. About $450,000 worth of gift cards ’INION were to be distributed starting Tuesday but York Region was supâ€" plied with fewer than 400 cards that ran out shortly after 1 pm. Peel and Durham legions received around 2.700 and 1.900 gift cards to distribute. respectively. In response to criticisms about communications. Kelly Baker. a spokesperson in Ms Wynne's office noted the premier con- tacted more than a dozen CIA mayors including Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua. Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti and York Region chairperson Bill Fisch. while also giving daily updates on the restoration efforts As for the gift cards. Ms Baker said the options boiled down to doing something or doing noth- ing. with the premier deciding that trying to help was the prefer- able option. At the same time. she accused the opposition parties of offering no constructive sugges. She claims the intention was always to expand the gift card program outside of Toronto. but. if that's indeed the case. why wasn't it mentioned prior to Monday. two weeks after the storm? It seems far more likely that. despite the deep freeze. the government was feeling the heat for playing what some have termed “postal Code-politics”. V Oehainly. the relatively small number of gift cards allotted for York Region makes us appear to be an afterthought. In an opinion piece that ran in the Toronto Star on Monday. Ms Wynne acknowledged the province's response to the stonn's aftermath wasn‘t perfectwhlle pledging to conduct a review. Let's hope she follows through on that. The idea of going through another crisis with a seemingly ad-libbed response leaves us. and likely many GTA nesidents with an empty feeling. disaster as photo-op without planning on how to handle sihulion. L: Premier used LE'I'I'ER 01‘ THE WEEK Que§tions surround town council Afier leading sewral articles in 'me Sm)- 'h‘ibune recently. I think we need m sit back. take a deep bu:th and wonder about our local politics MayorWayne limmetson‘s futurt‘ occupa. tion. according to an editorial. could be that of an unelected position with York Region â€"- sounds like the Senate in Ottawa. Perhaps his long service mum! in our community deserves an appointment to a higher level of gowmment. HtM‘l‘Vl‘l‘. when one starts to mnnect the dots. a hit of agita- tion sets in. For Whitchxuch-Stouffvilk‘k 2014 draft budget. Councillor Richard Bartloy and Mr‘ Emmerson want a 3.l~por-u‘nt tax hike mduced to something closer to 2 per arm. One can only speculate from when: the reductbn will come. If. indeed. Mr. [immerson is ammimed as the next chairperson of Yurk Region. he can pretty much say anything in x|1i§§§n}e. In another article. Councillor Phil Ban- non wants to disarm a salary review. which could mean more money for himself. other councillors and. of course. the mayor â€"-â€" a position for which he no doubt will run. Mr. Bannon says he wants to remain “hands-OE". then suggests a rwiew commit- tee be selected by town committees 1mm Mr. Bannon know all those people? University makes sense here Stoufiville: a university town? ltk time for a holder vision of what our tuvm can become. Last month. the Ministry of muning. (Zol- leges and Uniwrsities pubiiuhed its criteria for post-secondary education expansion. mcludingsatellitecampusestoaccommtxiatv unprecedented levels of enrolment gmwth. The greatest enrolment pressure is in the (STA. yet the time publicly funded universi- ties have limited capacity to almorh more students on existing campuses ‘ihe pmvince is looking for places where population gmwth is strongest and when: inst-secondary mum is limited. Milton is the most obvious mn- tender. \brk Region is semml. East GMllilfibury has ofl‘en‘d land at its GO Transit station and Newmarket. too. is in conversation with York University. Yet these communities aheady have (90 min mth tn \brk. which makes the“ bid km desirable. Marklmm-Stouflvllle has had the region‘s strongest population gmwth in mum of mun- bels (Markham) and pomemagc (Stoufl‘villo). and is furthest from Ybrk. Markham â€"â€" Ontario‘s high-tech capital â€"- may seem the most obvious location. How- ever. this year Stoufi‘ville will be linked acmm the region by public transit: a new YRT route alongStoufMlleRoadtothemegeStreet transit corridor and a (‘:0 station at (‘mmtiey GENERAL MANAGER Iolm Wiuems Punusunn Ian Proudfoot Why not establish an independent remu- neration committee from people who have nothing to do with town business? Per haps a tmyJor-perfonnmtce system within established budgets. like most corporations. would make more sense. 'lhe 40-per-wnt pay incmm suggosmi two years ago was ummgmus. 1110 181i") pvr cvm mlmcillum received is also nut 0f linc. no matter what other municipalities am: paying. How many people do you knuw whn received a pay increase of mow than 9 per cent in any given year in the last five years? During the seven years we haw lived in the Ballamme Golf and Country (Zluh. wo have supported the greater Stqufivillo arm. lkmover. other than stoplights outside our community on Hwy. 48 and improve- ments to our fire station. whom am our tax dollars going? We clear our own maids/walkways in the winter and have our own irrigation and sewer system. Yet other taxpayt‘rs n‘u‘ivv 100 per rem of the tnvm's services. Maynr limmcrson says “Council non- ings am: minor things in our jobs". then points out “the job of council has lwmnw wry complex". Remap»: this new complexity requires greater skill sets fmm our council- lors than in the past. ()ur existing (K) and YRI‘ serviws link Us to Markham and Scatbomugh and Uxhridgv. Mon: people will have norms m Stuuffi'illc than to any other York Region community. Sttmfiville‘s employment lands are sitting empty. 'lhe province is looking for proposals that will create facilities larger than 70.000 square feet (the size of our Canadian lire) for 1.000 students in the short-tenn. An obvious location would he on the east side of l 1m: 48 ‘twwn lloover Park Drive and Main Street. MLI‘CSSl-ul bid. however. would require the t i to donate land and money. Stanford. for example. ofiered land and $10 million to attract matching provincial. federal and pri- vate sector funding. result' in a campus of the University of Waterloo e annual direct and indirect economic benefit to Stratfrml is more than $43 million. ‘tweer sun the t Proposals to the province must be madv by a university. The strategic economic devel- opment plans forWhltchurch-Smufivillo haw emphasized the opportunities of the "cmmiw chm" economy. Sim-Tribune \Ms have the location and lnfrastmctuw for a successful satellite campus bld. What is needed locally ls a big vision. the politi- cal nerve to offer land and significant sculâ€" money â€" and to start a conversation with n umversity president. 6290 Main St. StoufMIIe. ON. LM 167 wwwyukregionnom ARNOLD NEUFELDT-FAS'I‘ m n 'H-Hl l r ART WOODRL‘FF MI MN I m 1-