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6 economist suntribune thursday may 30 2002 stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra welter editor jim mason production manager pam nichols classified manager ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu distribution manager barry black electronic communications manager john futhey inside sales manager staceyallen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial shoddy practices give police bad name york regions police force is yet again being publicly lambasted for its inability to perform a proper investigation the latest scathing report was delivered tuesday in a newmarket courtroom by justice william gorewich who stated york detectives disregarded the basic elements of the young offenders act in their probe of the death of a fourmonthold baby girl two years ago justice gorewich didnt mince words when he slammed detectives for ignoring crucial evi dence and violating the rights of a 14yearold boy despite medical findings that should have sent investigators in a different direction in short he said officers failed to examine medical and emergency service reports ignored requests by relatives of the babys par ents to check the couples violent past which included a childrens aid society file provided misleading information to a doctor brushed aside videotape evidence with the 14yearold suspect and most significantly violated a sec tion of the act that stipulates officers must tell a young offender he may consult a lawyer before making a formal statement justice gorewich even dragged up the 1984 guy paul morin case in which york police botched a probe into the death of queensville schoolgirl christine jessop eighteen years later and investigations are still being botched why just two months ago an audit showed the force needs to make nearly 100 changes to the techniques it uses in carrying out daytoday activities fiftyfive recommendations dealt with technological support and training police chief robert middaugh made light of the audit stating at the time nothing in the report concerned him and that the dozens of procedural changes being made because of the report would be minor its clear this isnt just about housekeeping fundamental problems remain with the forces investigative procedures and training chief middaugh who wouldnt comment on this latest case because it is still before the courts suggests the force is still underfunded despite a 10million budget increase this year he said yorks force still has far fewer offi cers than all other gta forces york region taxpayers are spending more than 120 million a year fighting crime a price tag that will only grow in canadas fastest grow ing region opinion wwwdotsghancom letters to the editor taking character oath would restore public trust in politicians if a character initiative as recently espoused by your newspaper and the region ofyork is to be the solution to our social prob lems it must start at the top with all politicians taking the following oath when taking office and publicly whenever the occasion seems appropriate i solemnly swear to try to always abide by the following statements i will only approve expenditure of tax payers money on those items that are legiti mately the responsibility of my government or board and will oppose expenditure on any and all items not the legitimate responsibility of my government or board legitimate may be by law or custom i will be thrifty with taxpayers money and i expect similar conduct from others i will not tolerate padding of expense accounts accept ing a bribe or going on junkets i will always bear in mind my govern ment holds property and assets in trust for the public i will oppose selling or relinquish ing control of such property or assets con trary to the will of the majority of my con stituents i will hold the person in charge of spend ing tax dollars accountable for seeing that rea sonable value is received for the money spent surpluses at the end of the fiscal year will be carried forward to reduce the tax rate in the next year more money left in the pockets of taxpay ers will improve their quality of life meaning more money spent in shops restaurants and other local businesses which will boost the economy and create more jobs abiding by these statements will restore public respect and gratitude toward politi cians and the politician will be returned to office for as long as he or she wishes to serve some people will say i am naive but do they know of a better peaceful solution to our social problems edgar corea markham stores shouldnt be selling evil harry potter videos there are flyers in stouffville selling harry potter videos which are even more danger ous than the books one would think store buyers and sellers would have more sense than to sell these witchcraft videos and books it would seem the mighty dollar matters more to them people are not doing themselves or their children any favours by buying these evil and occult things it seems children are drawn to the evil influence and are clamouring for them do them a favour and teach them the bible instead jessie stott stouffville letters policy stoufmle 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 bsa ope canadian circulations audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mail product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mail 1 year 6955 thursdays only stouflville tribune published every thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajavpickering news advertiser alllston 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 flamborough post georgetown independent acton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news oriilia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbridge tribune and city of york guardian phone 905 2942200 fax 905 2941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 905 2948244 distributioneconsuncom telephone 905 2942200 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom debora kelly m l4 liberal leader cheapens idea of character education ontario liberal deader dalton mcguinty doesnt know the first thing about character education he announced last week he would make it mandatory in ontarios schools following york region public school boards lead mr mcguinty explained details of his 25million safe schools plan to students in richmond hill in mr mcguintys ontario not only would all students attending publicly funded schools have character their schools would be safe video surveil lance would be theirs but for the asking bullyfree and have safety hotlines its simplistic to believe instilling character is as easy as setting out rules character education wont succeed if ifs an antianything program character education has to be about celebrating whats right with young peo ple while providing them with the self- esteem and support they need to grow into strong competent caring and responsible citizens it just isnt about asking kids to be polite and lawabiding mr mcguinty has cheapened and belittled all that is good about character by including it as yet another antivio lence measure besides the money needed to equip every school in the province with cam eras would be better spent restoring the jobs of real live human beings teach ers administrators guidance counsel lors support staff who can truly deal with the safety issues in our schools his proposals only serve to discredit character education in education week on the web members of the united states character education partnership are critical of programs aimed mostly at promoting good manners and compli ance with rules not at developing stu dents of strong independent character programs of the cheerleading appraise and reward define and drill and forced formality variation which is exactly the kind of character education you would see in many ontario schools if they were forced to add it to their curriculum are doomed to failure they say the goals and values of good charac ter must be embodied in everything the school does something york regions catholic school board has pointed out in response to mcguintys proposal throughout our curriculum we emphasize values our students are taught that education is a lifelong acad emic and spiritual quest writes chair person elizabeth crowe if mr mcguinty is suggesting some schools arent meeting the needs of stu dents hes absolutely right but when it comes to character edu cation and safe schools the safe schools have to be in place first