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a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stoufmlle on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot economist suntribune saturday april 19 2003 opinion editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director retail fuer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci letters to the editor us failed to make war case re thank us for what it hasnt done letter to the editor by mark baldock april 3 mr baldock states america doesnt cheer when an enemy nations civilians are killed while id resist lumping together all americans im not so sure i agree behind the chants usa usa usa the same cheers echoed by stephen harper mike harris ernie eves and a handful of bay street suits at a recent rally in toronto lie the lifeless and mutilated bodies of iraqi civilians this war is wrong the bush administra tion had ample opportunity and resources to convince the world community saddam hussein posed an immediate danger to america or the middle east that the iraqi regime was somehow behind the sept 11 2001 terrorist attacks and the un inspec tions had run their course it failed however to make a credible case notwithstanding the outbursts of a few liberal loudmouths the position of the canadian government has been reasonable and principled all peaceful means of disarmament and containment had not been exhausted furthermore the bush doctrine of preemp tive first strike sets a dangerous precedent that will likely destabilize the globe for decades to come more pointless bloodshed might makes right that canadian rightwing continental- ists should out of exaggerated fear of eco nomic fallout or desperate political oppor tunism join in the cheering is in my opin ion nothing short of disgusting howard leznoff markham letter had hateful message re english important for safety letter to the editor by roy weldon april 12 i would like to refute the hateful message mr weldon offers new canadians who arrived here more recently than his own immigrant family i may be wrong but im guessingweldon is not a canadian aboriginal surname please be assured mr weldon speaks only for himself not for all markham residents and certainly not for any other canadian i know canada is a land of immigrants what mr weldon would call invaders and we are privileged to live in a country allowing us the freedom to celebrate our ethnic ancestry while at the same time defining what it means to be canadian its laughable to suggest chinese immi grants are trying to recreate china here if they wanted china they would stay in china whats lucky for all of us is immigrants tend to bring with them the best of their for mer countries music food art language cultural activities and leave all the negative stuff perhaps political injustice or religious persecution behind this is what canada is to me a celebration of the best of the world lana baziuk champion markham government dropped ball on sars now that the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak is growing by leaps and bounds how could the department of immi gration and health canada put people at such risk knowing the potential danger of this disease plus the strain and inconve nience it is putting on people needing of surgery and treatment they were warned of its potential in advance and now seem to be running in cir cles and grasping at straws why would these federal government departments not stop all incoming flights from the countries of sars origin until the sit uation is under control it seems futile to check people leaving the country or hand out cards or questionnaires are our immigration policies so lenient we just believe and let everyone with a sob story into our country without doing a thorough background check look what its done so far we now have two new deadly diseases in less than one year to worry about and still our elected officials have not woken up to the fact theyre killing canadians needlessly perhaps they should stop worrying about hurting someones feelings and start thinking about protecting the people who voted for them this is no laughing matter nor is it a prej udiced statement our children and seniors are at risk remember sars was a disease we were told at first was not serious it has proven oth erwise in only a matter of weeks what will happen in the months to come obviously the immigration and health requirements were not taken seriously until it was too late you have to ask yourself why are other countries tightening up on allowing people from sarsaffected countries to enter and considering stopping flights from these coun- tries we on the other hand hand out ques tionnaires if elected officials do not take every pre caution to ensure the safety and protection of its citizens then they are not doing the job for which they were voted to do lets not let theni forget they have a responsibility to protect canadians first otherwise well have a much worse situation than the walkerton dilemma to worry about harold hutchings markham leisure planning needs input a leisure services master plan study which will address future planning and delivery of leisure services in whitchurch stouffville is under way input has been sought from sports orga nizations and user groups and residents have also been invited to submit their com ments ideas and concerns this study will assess the need for leisure programs and activities facilities parks open spaces and trails for at least the next 10 years in assessing and servicing this demand the process must ensure existing green- spaces neighbourhood parks and estab lished facilities such as memorial pool are not sacrificed to make way for or finance new leisure services in addition to creating an inventory of needs the master plan study should adopt a number of guiding principles parks greenspace arid walking and bike trails in new developments should be maxi mized developers should not be allowed minimum compliance with municipal regu lations existing neighbourhood parks and par- kettes do not represent inventory that can be sold to finance new facilities or raise revenue for the town the master plan study should confirrn the importance of greenspace in existing neighbourhoods and adopt the principle these greenspaces will be preserved and maintained as the wwtchurchstouffyilles popula tion ages there will be a growing need for more passive leisure and recreational space such as walking and bicycletrails and conservation areas the study should not be skewed only to the needs of users of built facilities particu larly since such facilities represent substan tial capital and operational costs to the municipality memorial park should be preserved and enhanced the study must confirm its importance to the town it is unfortunate park drive south has now become a major roadthere must be no further encroachment of the impacts of development into the park existing facilities such as the outdoor pool should be retained greater naturaliza- 1 tion particularly along the creek bed oppo site the library should take place and all existing greenspace must be preserved in publicizing the master plan study the town has invited residents to take the time to participate by all means do so here is the opportunity to influence this process to ensure it is respectful of existing neighbourhoods of our environment and whitchiirchstouffvilles heritage jillmcwhinnie stouffville letters policy the stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space utters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email ietters0econsuncom editorial editor m mason newsroomeconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane skancymgcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews 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