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6 economist suntribune thursday june 20 2002 s stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 publisher lar 1 proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra weller editor jim mason classified manager ann campbell production manager pam nichols retail sales manager stephen mathieu distribution manager barry black inside sales manager stacey allen electronic communications manager john futhey business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial say goodbye to provincial tax cuts so whats in the new ontario budget for us if you were expecting another tory tax break you will have to wait forget about com mitments from the mike harris government for further tax reductions in fact some people will pay as much 447 more thanks to the first budget of the ernie eves government on hold are removing the 20percent surtax on your income if you make between 58000 and 68000 reductions to income tax rates in the low est income levels plans for private school tax credits to rise from 10 per cent to 20 if more funding translates into a better health system you could get better care in york regions three hospitals heres the lowdown the public school system asked for 11 billion but received only 400 million will cuts to the system as forecast by some school boards follow if you smoke youre paying more post- budget the province raised the price of a carton of smokes by 5 while the federal government passed on a 4 increase that brings the price of a carton to more than 50 what happened to the strategy of raising the price of cigarettes to discourage smuggling across the us border can we expect a return to the smuggling game the good news is increased spending 17 billion for health care 245 million for clean- water initiatives obviously following on the heels of the second walkerton report the eves government and in particular minister of municipal affairs and housing chris hodgson should be congratulated for address ing the results of a generation of neglect of municipal water and sewage systems said dave pagnan president of the ontario sewer andwatermain construction association if you drink alcoholic beverages youll be relieved to know that rumoured tax hike were just that rumours will fewer people smoke due to higher cig arette prices and will that take a load off of our health system will convenience stores in markham and whitchurchstouffville sell fewer cigarettes stay tuned ontario opinion letters to the editor newspapers coverage of biker funeral inappropriate re bikers brothers say bye june 13 was it really necessary to run the funeral of whitchurchstouffyilles jesse gray the son of a hells angels member as if it was something to approved of or the hypocritical eulogy not something for the district to be proud of percy barber markham confronting bullying crucial to societys wellbeing re problems at markville secondary blown out of proportion letter to the editor by claudia so june 15 as an individual who spent last summer working on the put the brakes on bullying project for york region schools as part of the cayre community alliance for york region education group i was disappointed to read ms sos opinion on the subject in a society where children are commit ting murder and suicide as a result of being bullied i fail to see how confronting bullying head on can be anything but extremely cru cial to our societys well being at large ms so also asked how can you judge an individual by his or her actions the answer is very simple our society is built on judging others based on their actions the sooner our youth learn this fact of life the better off they will be i was also stumped as i read that these kids are actually intelligent individuals who dont deserve to be trashtalked by the media and should be getting a bit more respect how is choosing to harm someone else a demon stration of our intelligence our society cannot afford to ease up on bullying we must endeavour to end it with all of our available resources keroncato markham corrections in last thursdays economist suntribune an incorrect version of the edi torial cartoon was used in tuesdays economist sun the last part of the letter of the week was inadvertent ly left out here is the missing section in this respect the ideological requirements of the cardinal principle of jewish exclusive- ness have thus been given absolute prece dence over the moral and legal requirements of inalienable human rights how could any selfrespecting person pre sume zionist israel to be a peaceloving coun try when its entire existence is based on the hijacking of an entire people namely the palestinians ibrahim hayani unionville the economist suntribune regrets the errors letters policy stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words arid 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 l3p1m3 email lettersdeconsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 ee3 dde canadian circulations i 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 ajaxpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news 8urlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york minor enn 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 orillia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthornhillvaughan 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 distributioncconsuncom telephone 905 2942200 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom dave teetzel people cant pick and choose nature they encounter 1 i heres this game i play with the birds they come in the air vents in my house every morning i get up and run the bathroom fan i think this scares them away but maybe it just drowns out the chirping i slap some tape over the slats on my vent they pull it off usually around this time of year they get fed up and move into my neighbours vent i could put wire mesh over the opening and keep them out for good but it hardly seems sporting after all the area was bird habitat long before it was my habitat in one newmarket neighbourhood people are looking for a little more pro tection than duct tape and fans can pro vide after finding signs of a black bear prowling through composters last week residents said the town and the ministry of natural resources arent doing enough to protect people the town responded by distributing notices advising people to watch out for bears it would be difficult to do much more since mr bear hasnt been seen in newmarket since but you dont have to go very far to meet him smokey was spotted last month in the bush near udora a hamlet that straddles the york durham border in the regions north end and last weekend he turned up at a backyard bird feeder in sutton not far from the site of a planned condominium development in previous years i recall bears being spotted near bloomington road in aurora and even as far south as a mcdonalds on 16th avenue in markham richmond hill has had issues with coyotes as have other southern york municipalities and even toronto coyotes like to run around and hunt in wooded ravines people like to buy homes backing on to wooded ravines coyotes like to howl and eat small pets you can see where the conflict might arise we recently ran stories about the frustration of having raccoons skunks or squirrels move into your house what these situations have in com mon is people who have purchased homes in nice natural areas ie their properties abut and were probably carved from wildlife habitat but want to pick and choose the nature they encounter ministry of natural resources ministry supervisor ian buchanan said in his 13 years on the job he was unaware of public safety in york region ever being threatened by a bear in the past century there have been six serious bear attacks in all of ontario im not saying i wouldnt freak out if i met a bear while strolling through the park but im far more concerned a wild animal wandering into a subdivision will be hurt by people than vice versa