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

economist suntribune thursday august 8 2002 stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stoufiville ont l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra weller editor classified manager jim mason ann campbell production manager retail sales manager pam nichols stephen mathieu distribution manager inside sales manager barry black stacey allen electronic business manager communications robert lazurko manager office manager john futhey vivian oneil opinion editorial political squabbling wont fix health care not only do we have to worry today about long lineups in waiting rooms rising drug costs and outdated medical equipment but now we have to worry about growing old sure well stay hale and hearty for as long as we can the ernie eves government has pro vided great incentive for that with its 15per cent increase in longterm health facility costs but the odds are at some point well be reliant on somebody else to provide care yet that option is quickly moving beyond the reach of the average senior citizen and his family as the provinces hike has underlined the province claims the increase is required to pump 100 million into longterm care granted the investment is long overdue however according to the opposition liberals only 7 million of that sum is new money hiking fees and whining about a lack of money wont solve the problem though the provinces seem to think otherwise if you have been following reports from the premiers meeting in halifax the standoff saw ottawa turning up its nose at requests for more funding the provinces are not without justification in demanding more money from the federal government the lack of a sustained long- term and reliable source of funding has been the bane of the healthcare system yet in the present climate its clear ottawa wont simply hand it over according to the conference board of canada federal surpluses will reach 855 bil lion within 20 years the feds pull in far more than they need to fund social programs and distribute far too little to the provinces burdened with the expensive responsibility of health and education programs the provinces are expected to reach a net debt of 3869 billion in those same 20 years to taxpayers the arguments are ludicrous the money is coming out of one pocket ours independent studies conducted for the commission on the future of health care in canada are calling for a dramatic overhaul of the healthcare system one report recommends ottawa transfer the good and services tax to the provinces for health care but it warns the proposal will not succeed unless both levels of government put aside their competing agendas the bottom line is we face rising costs or reduced services if dramatic fiscal reform isnt embraced by all levels of government letters to the editor poor service begs question are customers wanted i am proud i chose canada as my new home in no time i was part of the fine canadian mosaic i had a chance to practise my high school german with my butcher french with the armenian dry cleaner italian with my baker maria and all the slavic languages with my shoe repairman dimitri just as i felt comfortable things began to change the old philosopher would say nothing is constant but the changes i am a very adaptable person i will change accord ingly i thought recently i volunteered at a bake sale i was short ofvinegar and crisco time was limited i went to big land in milliken there were hundreds of people i didnt recognize most items but so what i was looking for crisco and vinegar i dont quit easily i asked for vinegar the first seven staff members didnt have a clue what i was asking for by chance i found the vinegar but not the crisco in a desperate search i went to the cash register the young lady could not tell me if they sell that thing she suggested the infor mation desk but the young couple there did nt speak english back in the aisles tasked another four peo ple in vain i took butter instead if we cant trust a cow how in the world can we trust a chemist that was a bittersweet victory i left the store with a heavy heart in my wildest dreams i could not see myself not able to communicate in one of the official languages of canada crisco is very much a north american item i was sad no one was interested enough to find what i was looking for i got the message the store personnel did not want me as a cus tomer i was thinking what would happen if someone doesnt want me in markham or even worse in canada do i want to live in a country where i am not welcome its not just because of crisco josipa klostranec markham thanks to ail for volunteer effort with markham clothing centre i understand the markham clothing centre is closing down permanently this facility has served the markham com munity especially its less affluent citizens for many years at a number of locations it has been staffed entirely by volunteers it is hard to imagine just how many hours plus devotion and sheer hard work have gone into maintaining this centre i think all involved deserve a very sincere thank you and well done your efforts have not gone unnoticed ruth leak markham letters policy stoufrvuie 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 hhu3 ffldb canadian circulations 1 audit board member ontario press council 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 ajavpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga 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 georgjna erabanner northumberiand news north york mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillla 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 6402612 fax 905 2941538 classified 18007433353 distribution 95 2948244 distributioncconsuncom telephone 905 2942200 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom jr jh ill s in dave teetzel latest marketing scam shows need to crazeproof kids according to social agencies thousands of york region chil dren are living below the poverty line waiting for social housing or staying in shelters according to a story in saturdays newspaper children are in a frerlzy to spend enormous sums of money on the newest trading card craze while my heart naturally goes out to children going without food and shelter im also concerned about the kids being targeted by the latest coldly calculated marketing scam called yugioh this japanese tv showcard game combines the ubiquitous cartoon mar keting of pokemon with the roleplaying geekery of magic the gathering to create a shameless prefab obsession aimed at children as young as six in our story a markham collectibles dealer said he sees 100 kids a day buying cards costing 2299 for a starter pack 899 for limited edition booster sets and 599 for regular booster sets but the story actually softpedalled the cost the first yugioh website i checked offered an english first edition booster set for 129 and a single b skull dragon card for 59 heres how one online childrens tv reviewer summed it up you may have thought pokemon was a blatant case of pure commercialism but it pales in comparison to yugioh it claims that finding that one great game card will make you a better person yugi is a somewhat frail young boy who happens to be a big fan of gaming of any kind but when he solves an ancient egyptian puzzle he is granted all the powers of darkness now when confronted with danger and injustice he transforms into a much darker and dangerous form and proceeds to dish out the justice and punishment in short if you thought harry potter was bad wait til you get a load of this im not here to tell you how to raise your kids or spend your money but if any of this bothers you you had better get busy now the industry is gearing up to make this the musthave toy for christmas your kids may already be watching the yugioh commercial disguised as a cartoon and if theyre not the peerpres sure heat is likely to be on soon how do you crazeproof a child its one thing to produce garbage its another to sell it to kids but its truly contemptible to hit them with a full- court marketing press that makes them outcasts if they dont buy in the 80s a parental pressure cam paign persuaded toy companies and cartoon producers to draw up guide lines about marketing to children those guidelines appear to have gone out the window but maybe its time to start the pressure again