stouffvitle saturday march 22 2003 servingthe community of whitchurchstouffville s 28pages1 including gst f at the schools one of those i teachers youll always remember letters 6 new you 13 classified 21 sports 26 businesses hope war jitters end soon purse strings tight as us invades iraq by jeff mitchell staff writer chalk it up to prewar jitters but now the uncertainty sur rounding americas intentions toward iraq has been addressed analysis are hopeful an unchar acteristic dip in consumer confi dence among canadians will be relegated to the past i think people have tightened their purse strings said ruth burkholder president of the markham board of trade thats why consumer confi dence has been sliding every thing is an unknown factor that everything refers to the months of speculation on whether the united states would back its tough talk with military action against iraq on wednesday night president george w bush provided the answer in spades launching an air and ground war on his neme sis saddam hussein as early as last monday the day after the president ordered saddam to relinquish power within 48 hours markets began responding positively that has led to hope februarys slide in consumer confidence will register a similar reversal said peter hall of the conference board of canada he said results of a survey in february showed consumer see consumer page 8 rotary rolls out taste of spring 8silssgss3s v staff photosjoerd witteveen julie testa front coproprietor of willow springs winery on bethesda road tests a new batch with members of the rotary club of stouffville from left john pollard ian mackenzie mary francis juk nancy myers hilary richards and ken prentice twelve restaurants and eight wineries including willow springs will serve up their best at rotarys a taste of spring monday march 31 from 6 to 9 pm at sleepy hollow golf and country tickets are 45 from 9056406608 9056420363 or 9056424801 cultural barriers services offer social services in languages of new residents councillor by simone joseph staff writer the elderly man who called markham councillor tony wong for help about 112 years ago was worried he would be left home less after being kicked out by his son mr wong would have referred this man to regional staff for help if it werent for one fact the man spoke mandarin and little english so mr wong referred him instead to a community agency this call was one of many he receives from residents anxious to get help but unable to access services usually they have tried to deal with regional staff and they get nowhere he said- i get calls indicating a high degree of dis satisfaction mr wong believes more needs to be done to help people with language and cultural bar riers access regional services diversity training for regional staff part nerships with community agencies and improved marketing and public education would be a start he said our region should take a leadership role to provide culturally sensitive services he said at a community services and housing committee meeting wednesday visible minorities are becoming visible majorities across the region according to statistics canada census data from 2001 pre sented at the meeting in markham south asian residents were the fastest growing seemorejpagell north markham honda 4611 hwy 7 wosioikonmxjyrd unionville 905477 2451 genuine honda oil and filter change includes prcmiumuality or 5w30 motor oil genuine honda oil tiller and a new drain plug gasket monthur parts and service open till midnight d 2002 honda ouamty dealer north markham honda has been presented with the- prestigious total quality dealer award from honda canada inc for 2002 o t t ft i t r 6400888