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

The EraThe Banner Jan NION Established THE ERATHE BANNER Steven Newmarket ON Industrial N Aurora ON Publisher Ian Proudfoot Ijuurko Owmnom Barry Black EDITORIAL Harper should come clean on prorogue reasons ISSCE Prime Minister Stephen Harper shuts down Parliament until after Games Is Prime Minister Stephen Harp er once again playing Parlia mentary games List year he used prorogu ing to avert a confidence vote that threatened to dissolve the government elected six weeks ear lier It seems few are clear exactly why hes proroguing or suspending work by our MPs this time and the Conservatives havent explained it to Canadians satisfaction- There are a growing number of sites and an outpouring of angry letters to the media to show disapproval Some think its a shrewd tactic by the prime minister to delay the hear ings on the Afghan detainee issues Others suspect it is to push off an election in times of dipping polls As for the first theory if theres egg on the governments face it will eventually end up there anyhow As for the latter current polls actually favour the Tories A Nov poll showed the Conservatives with a lead over the Liberals In a poll three weeks later numbers remained about the same with per cent of Canadians polled slating Mr Harper was the most trustworthy leader versus 1 per cent favouring the Liberals Michael As for the most competent lead er it was Mr Harper again with 35 per cent versus Mr at about percent The cynic would also point to the Senate as Mr Harpers reason to stall the machinery of government His plan to appoint five new Tory senators will shift power to his party The parliamentary break was to end Ian but has been pushed back to March Much legislation is now dead and some bills will have to be reintro duced wasting MPs time and our tax dollars What could the Conservatives possibly do in 22 sitting days to sig nificantly improve their standing The most obvious reason to pro rogue Is the Winter Olympics With Canuck news outlets focused on Vancouvers snowboard- ers ski Jumpers hockey players and hoping for a figure skating scandal how could any big news day in Parliament ever compete To be sure many MPs wouldnt turn down an opportunity to be seen in the bleachers patriotically cheering on our athletes or rubbing elbows with them The cynic would also point to the Senate as Mr Harpers reason to stall the machinery of govern ment His plan to appoint five new lory senators will shift power to his parry That means on March 3 theres little chance of the stone walling legislation So its either waste time in the House or waste time In the Senate Proroguing Parliament is not an unusual tactic prime later lean Chretien prorogued four times once for four months in years Its not a very good reason to like or criticize Mr Harper but It Is a good reason to wonder why his party cant explain its political dec to Canadians BOTTOM LINE Olympic Gam not a reason to shut down federal government THERES STILL CASH OUT THERE WE HAVENT GRABBED YET WE CAN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Wheres harm in private health care Re Privatization not way to improve health system letter to the editor by Bert Dec Allowing private health care simply means you can use your health card at a private clinic instead of only being able to use it at a government funded one If a private clinic can sec a in two days instead of two weeks and is paid by the gov ernment as before where the harm In that Mr asks if we want our health care system held hos tage by insurance and drug corn panics but conveniently fails to observe the public is often held hostage by unions who withdraw their services or work to rule whenever things dont go their way Mr cites findings and statistics showing the weak ness of the American system but there are lust as many showing the Canadian system to be ken as well As consumers we demand choice and competition on everything from groceries to electronics to automobiles Why are we so fearful of It on things as Important as health care and education Mr GraveUe suggests we focus on efficiency Instead of privattza tlon We tried that Ii was called Ward system provides better representation Re Current electoral system rewards best candidates letter to the editor by Ian Hawkins Dec Mr Hawkins asks if a commu nity can be so disenchanted with Its municipal election system It feels change Is necessary In a word Yes More than 200 Last bury residents from Holland Landing to Mount Albert have exercised their dissatisfaction and democratic rights by sign the petition in support of a municipal ward system Mr Hawkins makes several erroneous assumptions in his criticisms of a ward system Most Importantly the tunc of wards is not simply to displace the status quo but to provide lor better representation and accountability which are sorely lacking under the current at large system Since planning and develop merit occur at the local level It is fitting Last should have councillors accountable to the concemi of each commu nity A geographically large such as Bast needs elected officials who are in tunc with diverse issues Secondly a ward system will not necessarily displace the incumbents There is no requirement a councillor must live in the ward he represents only ihut he pro direct representation for his constituents Councillors may well retain iheir positions if they choose to represent exclusive wards A final point is a ward system may very well afford more oppor tunity for civicminded residents to get Involved While obtaining the signatures required for the ward petition we spoke with several residents who expressed an in running fur council llnfortunately they see It as a futile effort under the current system that pits a new candidate against four incumbents A ward system would give us true choice rather than merely shooins against a single incumbent Is difficult but com petlng against all four incum bent is viewed as futile It should be noted running for elected office is only one way to be involved in the democratic process Working toward a more repre and equitable electoral system is another Courts may be answer to sidewalk clearing Re Ownership has its respon sibilities letter to the editor by Anderson Jan 3 Mr Anderson concludes It is a homeowners responsibility to clear the snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of his home I agree with his intent but would argue It is a civic duty rather than a responsibility He complains about home owners who allow the snow and ice to pile up on their sidewalks truth is the people who do not clear the sidewalk actually make matters significantly worse by repeatedly driving their vehi cles over it creating a much more dangerous situation for pedes triads Historically many municipal Hies had a bylaw requiring bom eowners to clear their sidewalks lhis may be why Mr son calls it a responsibility The problem in Newmarket is the town only clears the side walks on main roads and col lector roads In residential sub divisions not the crescents iind ails desacs that form the bulk of streets My experience based on walking almost daily is the town does not perform this work to an adequate standard typically leaving lots of snow behind the plow on the sidewalk to be ren dered dangerous future vehic ular and pedestrian traffic There may also be a legal case to be made against any horn who makes an already had situation worse by causing dangerous Icing andor rutting of snow on the sidewalk in front of his home In conclusion I would urge homeowners to keep the side walk in front of or at the side of their home clear of snow and ice to we can all walk safely WINSTON SMITH Hockey community bands together With so much bad news in the world today 1 thought would share something with you that warms your heart even in My two children David and Joshua and I lost a loving mother and wife to breast cancer on Ian 2009 Joshua plays for the Newmar ket novice Af rep hock team and on Jan the team and parents showed up at our game in Markham sporting pink ribbons and pink tape on their hockey sticks in support of my family and in honour if my wife Mary Ihere is a lot said about the politics in kids hockey today however it is obviously not true in Newmarket novice AE My family and I were truly touched by this act of support and would like to let you know that even in the tragedy of losing someone to breast cancer the kindness and support of people docs not go unnoticed We would like to thank the coaches players and parents of tile team for their Incredible ges ture of support Debora Kelly Harper may have underestimated us this time It was just another week in a Canadian autocracy Our Supreme leader phen Harper decided it was time to pack It in again to give MPs a vacation from Par the taxpayers dime just before the new year rang In All It took was a quick call to Whats 1 let Name no need to put on the rubber shoe covers hop in the limn and show his face at Kldeau I lall Why should we care about the prime ministers peremptory move to shut down Parliament for the second time in nearly year According to Greatest One himself we dont care And to critics who say proroguing Parliament was to halt the tion into Afghan detainees the says we dont care about that either This Is how It is in Nation so I can only assume hes right most Canadians don care In fact most anadians cant be bothered to vote never mind summon up outrage over a prorogued Parliament Prorogation is a routine constitu tional matter the lup Dog blithely said in a CBC interview knowing most yawn at the mere mention of constitutional Evidently he feels most Canadi ans have as much tor our parliamentary system as he does His December prorogation was to avoid a vote this time It to recalibrate the gov agenda- Id appreciate thai If was ihe end of a productive session but given that less than half the bills Introduced in both tile ommons and Senate received ascent their work isnt done by any stretch of the imagination A look at the record shows tile Conservatives bid to blame the lib end stat Senate lor standing in the way of legislation is utterly false Its the Conservatives themselves who are killing key bills Its repeatedly ending parliamentary sessions Alv It hat been said the ing Vancouver Olympics necessitated the break If thats the case we should be grateful Harpers government can walk and chew gum at the same time never mind host a and the at the same time Brimming with all the confi dence thai only pollsters can bring Mr Harper informed us what we do care about the economy Who could argue with that Anybody who docs Is a socialist who wants to raise your taxes or out of touch elitist hed say As much as Mr Harper prides himself on knowing makes ordinary Canadians tick and In detracting media and political opponents with bright shiny things such as so called assault on democracy I get a sense he may have underestimated us this time A can hope anyway It may be annoyance the arm or simply that unlike our par were working harder than ever these days because of the economy Those lucky enough to have jobs Ordinary Canadians dont get extended paid vacations Or it may be that as much the economy matters so does democ racy and the humane treatment of prisoners of war Too often we feet we cant do any thing to make a difference But by doing and saying nothing your apa thy Is presumed to be support By no means Is proroguing Parlia a reason to toss out the minori ty government but let your MP know mis Issue will Influence your vote in the next election And him or her to get back to work The say theyll be In the House Jan when Parliament was to resume And go online and register your protest with fellow Canadians who are While the Impact of the Face book group Canadians Against Pro Parliament Is being mocked by some I saw its membership grow from Tuesday afternoon to more than the next day Its a little thing but It too gives me hope LETTERS POLICY AH mutt be km than word and include a daytime telephone number name and address The Era The Banner reserve the right to or not publish and to for clarity space Write LMtsn to At Editor Dm lot 236 jack It Smart Administration EDITORIAL ADVERTISING DISTRIBUTION OS71757e Pi MO I THE ERATHE BANNER rk bpon Group