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6 economist suntribune saturday aug 10 2002 s stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville ont l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra weller opinion editor jim mason production manager pain 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 letters mere platitudes will not alleviate national problem of child poverty re child poverty hits home aug 3 one cannot agree more with the national council on welfares statement child poverty is a national shame indeed it continues to be a major prob lem across canada despite our sustained economic prosperity in 1989 parliament unanimously agreed to seek to eliminate child poverty in canada by the year 2000 in the most recent throne speech the gov ernment renewed this commitment promising to ensure no canadian child suf fers the debilitating effects of poverty in may 2002 the federal government committed to developing a national plan of action to address the needs of children but mere promises and platitudes will not allevi ate child poverty there is greater need to bring this issue to the forefront as ordinary citizens are either unaware or seem complacent with the silent sufferings of the most vulnerable segment of our society our children according to a noted economic historian r h tawney what thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches the obscene greed exposed at the corpo rate level and massive concentration of wealth into fewer hands is creating dispari ties of unprecedented proportions is there a correlation between the wealth accumulated by the richest and the food bankssoup kitchens like gas stations the local mcdonalds fast food outlets are never very far away but very few canadians are even aware with 1100 charity food banks nationwide canada has twice as many food banks as mcdonalds outlets look into the lives of the poor children to gain insight into the real life experiences of poverty at an early stage in life this should motivate us to press our gov ernments both federal and provincial to eliminate child poverty poverty in the immediacy of childhood looms all over the adult life child poverty is instrumental in producing dysfunctional families which are a lifelong burden on the society javedakbar markham wwwaolighancom street racing much more than drugs girls fast cars having attended many street races as well as participated in street racing myself i feel obligated to clear up a few miscon ceptions about street racers yes weve all seen the fast and the furious and heard what the media has to say about street races but street racing is much more than the drugs girls and fast cars that the media portrays the street racing culture allows any guy or girl to participate people who have a hard time understanding street racers often come to the same old wrong conclusion its the new fad for young teens let me remind you street races have always taken place street racing existed 50 years ago street racing is a culture which happens to get a bad name from the main activity but there is a backdrop to the scene its what goes on that the media doesnt portray like the cars social environment loud music and casual dancing that fills the time for nonracers those activities the media chooses to not show and for good reason what would sell more papers a street racer getting involved in a car accident or a street racer who just hangs around play ing his or her music loudly not bugging anyone or doing anything illegal i can tell you most street racing acci dents occur when people pull out without first checking where the other racers are they arent caused by fast speeds or reckless driving only rarely do the drivers actually lose control of their vehicles its dangerous but its a rush people of all ages enjoy please the next time you see somebody driving cars they might have put hours and thousands of dollars of work into dont shun them because of the media embrace them because of their talent and allow them to showcase their accomplishments with a street race or two jonathon cross richmond hill cartoon about pope and catholic sex scandals shameful i usually look forward to reading my paper and enjoy the community spirit in which most articles deal however when i read the aug 1 issue and saw the cartoon by steve nease regard ing the catholic church sex scandal i thought i was reading one of the smut papers you see displayed by the cash regis ter desk in most stores i cant even fathom how someone could have such a disgustingly perverted mind as to find pleasure in mocking the pope if the cartoonist had one tenth the digni ty courage humility spirit and love of his fellow man the pope displayed during his recent visit then possibly he is capable of understanding his caricature of the pope was demeaning not only to the pope but to his ability as a humourous cartoonist did mr nease watch the pope walk down the stairs from the plane did he watch him perform all his duties even though he was clearly suffering did he watch as young people were blessed by this holy man well i did and because i did i believe this cartoon is offensive to many other people as well as myself shame on you mr nease pat wisdom keswick eves agenda is mike harris policies in sheeps clothing on the last day before his summer break ontario premier ernie eves increased the amount seniors must pay to live in longterm care facilities by 7 a day most seniors in longterm care facilities are on fixed incomes and must now find an additional 200 a month to survive has this governments budgetary obsession left it unable to see right from wrong it seems mr eves plans are really the harris agenda in sheeps clothing in the past year this government has managed to make it cheaper to attend upper canada college but much more expensive to live as a senior citizen in ontario i wonder how york north mpp julia munro could vote in support of an increase in fees that could only be described as harsh and unfair starting this week i am circulat ing a petition asking mr eves to stop this increase in fees when i decided to run for government it was because i wanted to be able to stop leg islation like this legislation i know is wrong i hope this petition helps it is time for the government to stop picking on the most vul nerable and show some respect for the peo ple who built this province senior citizens john taylor provincial liberal candidate york north stouffville elementary school principal will be missed the students of orchard park public school in stouffville have experienced a lot over three years with our principal mrs sandra jones the many wonderful things she has done for orchard park have inspired us mrs jones has encouraged all of us to have a positive attitude about ourselves and what we can accomplish at orchard park we try our hardest to follow the four rs respect responsibility reason and results we have accomplished many great things using the four rs with the help of mrs jones we now have a new playground for the younger grades we have raised money for charities such as the heart and stroke foundation the canadian cancer society and for our adopt ed school in haiti mrs jones has always been a good sport and has motivated us by always being a good sport we will never forget the time she came to school in her pyjamas because we met her challenge and our fundraising goal michael carvalho courtney shroederreid derek eickmeier christie pawluch stouffville 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 letters9econsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 rfh dde canadian circulations 1 audit board member ontario press council subscription rates by mail 1 year 6955 thursdays only how to get in touch with us telephone 9056402612 fax 9052941538 email newsroomeconsuncom distribution 905 2948244 distributioneconsuncom classified advertising 8532527 18007433353 9 heritage road markham l3p 1m3 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 buriington 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 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