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6 economist suntribune thursday may 162002 s stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 opinion telephone 905 2942200 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra welter editor jim mason production manager pam nichols distribution manager barry black electronic communications manager john futhey classified manager ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager stacey allen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial pure water for all residents in york we could drink to that how important is having a clean fresh sup ply of water to york region residents very important two years ago this month the walkerton tragedy opened the countrys eyes to the potential for serious problems with municipal water supplies seven people died and an estimated 2300 others became ill from drinking tainted water in the community near owen sound local utilities officials were described as reckless during the walkerton hearing the provincial government also took some of the heat over cutbacks in testing at its ministry of the environment back in york region this spring news items remind us how important a clean supply of water is and how fragile human life is a newmarket girl was fighting deadly e coli bacteria that had residents recalling walkerton threeyearold justine suter had to undergo dialysis for complete renal failure she had been playing the weekend before she became ill in a river on the family farm 20 minutes outside walkerton the improper disposal of medications is a threat to york regions drinking water and should be addressed with a recovery program a regional committee was told last week rod muir founder of a company called green ideas is seeking funding from york and other gta regions to set up a program to col lect and dispose of medicines experts in the water quality field recognize how important the issue of clean water is for the average canadian citizen people are more willing than ever to pay 2 for bottled water whereas the same water drawn from the public supply would cost 002 says dr graham gagnon a water qual ity expert dr gagnon will lead a twoday seminar this month in ottawa on water quality issues and treatment options much of the existing infrastructure includ ing our municipal water supply systems is in urgent need of rehabilitation or replacement according to the national association of engi neers hosting the event walkerton is not much different from newmarket markham orwoodbridge wwwdolighancom letters to the editor pesticide report based on information from seminar re councillor wants truth told about pesticides may 2 perhaps it would help if i clarify what my report was and what it was not the federal government decided it needed to update legislation regarding pesticides approved for use in canada with a lot of input from the public and others no doubt it defined 270 sets of tests covering all the con cerns expressed over the years the federal government also defined a set of protocol under which testing was to be car ried out my report was comprised of extracts from the audited report submitted to the fed eral government i extracted the description of each group of tests and what they were designed to mea sure who presented the results at our semi nar some of the test details and the summa ry provided by the labthe full report is on file in the town clerks office along with the test ing protocol in two large volumes the reference to a fatal dose was an attempt to explain to someone who emailed me one set of tests required by the federal government namely the minimum ingest ed dose that would be fatal to half of the sub jects in a group the conversion from 688 mgkg of body weight for the acidic form of 24d was an attempt to clarify that information for the e- mailer it ended up being presented to our environment and transportation committee by the emailer as information that could get into the hands of children she did that very well when a councillor attends a seminar for which the town pays 35 in this case the councillor has an obligation to share the information with staff and fellow councillors thats exactly what i did stan daurio councillor markham ward 1 york regions public officials sorely lacking in character re committee goes public with character initiative may 4 i gagged on my saturday morning coffee when i read this article our public officials have proven again and again they dont mean what they say dont say what they think and wouldnt be caught dead standing up for a good oldfashioned values except for show this ridiculous posturing about a charac ter initiative and a vision statement is a travesty in my opinion its a complete mock ery of the real meaning of the words charac ter sound values and truth if these words carried any clout in york region some of its elected officials would be behind bars carroll gair markham letters policy stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 email letterseconsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 frfh npc canadian circulations audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mail product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mail 1 year 6955 thursdays only stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajavpickenng news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent colllngwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobicoke guardian hamborough post georgetown independent acton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetangulshene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mlssissauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillla today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhiuvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbridge tribune and city of york guardian phone 95 2942200 fax 905 2941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 distributioneconsuncom debora kelly quality child care lies at heart of good communities i couldnt do what i do without it i wouldnt be where i am without it a reliable responsible nurtur ing childcare provider any parent who works or wants to work knows well the essential overrid ing importance of having good daycare for the most part parents have been left to sort it out for themselves scram bling for spaces in governmentspon sored and private licensed centres forming cooperatives calling on neigh bours families and friends child care has been left to chance because of an underlying belief it is a parental respon sibility not a public service the 1980s saw the dawning of an understanding programs are needed not only to provide care in parents absence but to promote healthy devel opment yet fiscal and political consid erations saw enthusiasm wane for a potentially expensive social program so services continued to deteriorate in the 1990s that underlying question of who has responsibility for early development and care has remained unresolved but could things finally be changing there is growing acceptance the availability of excellent child care and early learning opportunities is a vital component of an economically and socially healthy community in burgeoning york region human services planning is taking on new prominence with thetenet growth must be smart the region is championing a human services strategy recognizing afford able housing child care family support recreation and faith are as important as roads and sewers in building and sus taining vibrant communities the cause may be helped with a report this week by an independent toronto commission that concluded the need for quality care and early learning programs can no longer be met by an underfunded and poorly coordinated system the report commissioned last year when the tory government chose not to spend any of the 114 million in federal funds on licensed child care urges the province to stop dumping the issue in the laps of parents it also recommends ottawa should be able to force the provinces to spend some of the fiveyear 22billion early childhood develop ment initiative on child care this year ontario will receive 153 million the report which underlines the recognition human services must be a top priority wants our cities to be cen tres of human and economic develop ment establishing highquality child care and early children development pro grams lies at the very heart of a being a good community