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v jrss t a 1 ri tj c- i a metrolahd community nevrepapef j 9 heritagerd mmkharo ontt l3p 1m3 v publisher ion proudfoot general manager awn brouwer editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter deputy editor debora kelly aa editor s i julie cdspersen production director icherikdy distribution director 1 barry goodyear online publishing manager brian kirlik- classified manager ann campbell retail sales manager steptfenmathieu inside sales manager t stacey allen business manager margaret fleming office manager vivian oneil j editorial r jane steuari should tender her resignation w congratulations to the federal government for bowing to irhpressivepublic pressurearid dismantling a massive database tracking the lives of you and me ti average canadians mowmari 18000 canadians responded with outrage at the thought the federal govern- rhent was keeping a computer databaseabout x usaboutfour lives and our choices and demanded to seeftheirpersonal files fromv human resources development canada its good ihews matmejgoyernmeht will now rulesfof future research pro jects where information from different data bases is linked willreport annually to f canadians about howjituses personal infor- mationtinresearchahd policy analysis will speak-ito-proyincial- governments about whether theywant to continue sharing their data and will recommend legal protections includng violating thepnvacy- agreements r s t v our personal privacy is of the utmost importance t y v s is perfectly reasonable for the federal gov ernment to ask about biir preferences in ufe it isreasonablefqr our elected officials and jhebureaucratswho serve us to poll oiir opin- io andif weeabletoprbvide r honest responsestorequests for infohriatidn wewill all havea hand in building better more efficient and helpful services for all canadians thats honourable goalf 3 aridjthatscthe defenreumanresources deyetomentjmnist been r abounded the y dismantling of mesamesystemslidefendedi stewahbuiaigriv ayv v her inability to manage difficult situations herbumbjingof simple- public announce- mentshengnorance oftheactions and pro- grams of her own department are pathetic eaves3to i rfc and the liberals we haveelected across the country letters to the editor nn r srecent weeks ciungits existence asan impor- itantcomponentjuif government research to deterrrune if government programs are work- ingwell i j her sudden announcement that the data base would be torn apart isnt reassuring to canadians- y we wait for jane stewart to her resig- natio5ihef perfprmaricesifnply isnt accept- able for a minister of thepeople youbietrd charge teens with vandalism -r- rewouulypu charge griefstricken teens with vandalism ascolumn by rick vanderlindemay28 rick after reading your column i am so griefstricken that i am- going to your office and spraypaint the waus with a message for you please dont lay any charges against me i am just expressing myself and am sure you arid the police can understand this y rickget real nomatterriow you put it the teens did isan act of crime and van- dalisrh tlie teensarid their parents should be chargedandpay the cost of repair to the school- j i z if the teeriswant tjhonourtheir departed friend i wouldsuggest ike following y spraypaint their own home plant a tree in theiffriends honour with a i plaque- v 3raise public awareness of the way the friend died and try to ensure it does not hap- pen again i f a- s makea donation in his name to a charita- ble6rgizatin5withtheir money here are my answersto ricks questions r 3 rshbuldi theeris jwho vandalized a sch6pltinmempryi of adead friend be c charged yolibet rick how can you even think about such an absurd question you do the crime you do the time right you bet you do riclc if you knew who did it would you turn the vandals in you bet sinadarakhshan thornh1ll a weed is simply a plant growing where its not wanted spring has sprung and with it the chemi cal lawn care trucks seeking customers in our- neighbourhoods but before you sign that contract and pay someone money to use chemical warfare againstyour dandelions please stop for a minute thinkabout it and keep reading in and around canadian homes where pesticides are used there is a six to seven times higher rate of childhood brain cancer and leukemia as well as an increased risk for children to develop asthma and allergies have altered ibrain functioning and suffer from birth defects pesticides are airborne and can be found long distances from the site they were origi- nally applied residues can be found in food ground and well water and are absorbed through skin v if youre interested in learning more about pesticides there are products and programs to consider that are safer often cheaper and work better in the long term tnari pesticides a new website has been set up with informa tion about pesticides and chemicalfree lawn and garden care visit wwwecotiquecompesticideshtml but whatever you decide please consider this a weed is really only a plant growing where its not wanted so dig them up if you must but little yel low flowers in the spring are not the problem cancercausing chemicals are mary garden and bill hall king city letters policy fstouffiethbune welcomes your letters all j- submissions must be less than v 400 words and must include a dayetelephonenumber- i name and address the nevspapcr reserves the nght to publish ornofpublish and to editfcr clarity and space- t stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 r canadian ciituations t audit boaid member- ontario press councfl nsnpvfcadonjpnxjoasileseremmtfl403419 isabsctfpiatesbkinlur695liesiayonlf i i 11 i i- i i w i 1 l stouffvilletnbune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and oistnbuung ltd group ofnewspapers which includes the ajairpickenng news advertiser alliston herakjcouner barrle advance barrs bay the week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burtington post city parent collmgwoodwasaga connection east brk mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobfcoke a guardian flamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this vfceky midlandpenetanguishene minor milton canadian champion milton shopping news mrssssauga news newmarket- aurora georgina era banner northumberland news north york mirror oakvibe beaver oakvioe shopping news onllia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week- peterborough this week richmond i hillthomhaivaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffviue tnbune todays seniors uxbridge tnbune and city of york guardian vi t -e- jiy 4 h w write utters to the editor j hehtagerdri markham ont 13p 1m3 avphonei 90s 2940200 ci bi fax 905 2948- 4 yaf 17 classified i8oo74333 1 distribution 90s 294-8244- i3tmwuw sure jane we believe youll get rid of the database hey must think were complete idiots t i vthe same governments that create problems and lie about it expect us to trust them to solve them dont worry your pretty little heads fejderal human resources development minister jane jstewart tells us ill dis- mantle that big old file full of personal details about every man woman and child in canada she says she believes theres too much information about individuals in one place she shares our concerns about technological changes invading our privacy i would be more inclined to believe her if the privacy commissioner hadnt been hounding her government to dis- mantle the thing for three years without even convincing them to acknowledge its existence only after the commis sioner made the information public and after a couple of weeks of fudging denying and spin doctoring failed did stewart act call me a cynic but ihave a hard time believing her definition of dis mantle the file is the same as mine of course this bit of government obfuscation and ineptitude pales in comparison to mike harris buckpass ing in the walkertori tragedy at what point does the statute of lim itations run out on blame the ndp according to harris the ndp is to blame for the e coli deaths because in 1994 the bob rae government started charging municipalities to have water tested and allowed municipalities to use private labs in 1996 the tories discon tinued government water tests and forced municipalitiesto use private labs environment minister dan newman says he will introduce legislation within two weeks to ensure nobodyever dies of toxic water in oritarioagain under the new regulations any lab that finds contamination in water must inform the ministry of environment if a municipality hires a new private lab to test its water it will have to inform the t ministry of environment every certifi- cateof approval for water facilities must be reviewed by the ministry of environment that would be the same ministry of environment that knewthere was e coli in walkertbns waterjn february of 1998 keepingthe mmistryinformed isnt the wayto prevent tragedies in short the most important change dan newman can introduce is to make sure his ministry does its jotx tour provincial government would likeusto believe that incompetent and negligent individuals in asmau south western ontario town are to blame for the deaths of seven people arid that the harris cavalry wriding inoii white chargers to save theday s they must think were idiots m mmj2m