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economist sunsuntribune saturday aug 16 2003 a metroland community newspaper 34 civic avestoufmlle on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot letters to the editor unfortunate public pays for election pamphlets government pamphlets have been mailed to our homes in the mail and govern ment commercials have started to appear on tv this is a sure sign the tories are softening up the public for a fall election the government pamphlet on electricity in ontario had little value in educating the public on conservation it contained a picture of the premier and was really a promotional ad for the tories it is unfortunate the public had to pay for this flyer through its taxes lower rates for our home energy would be of much more interest the huge expense of releasing the budget at magna international is another example of how the tories are tossing money around carelessly more than 200000 was spent for this photo op for the conservatives it was a media event and we paid for it this shows the thin character of the province instead of wasting taxpayers money on these info ads and stunts it would make more sense to direct the funds toward conservation pollution control public health care or education we do not need propaganda ads jim jackson aurora mp wilfert reneging on support of gay community an open letter to oak ridges mp bryon wilfert in newspaper articles you have indicated you intend to vote no on the parliamentary free vote on equal marriage rights for same- sex couples we wish to remind you of your response to our letter of july 19 2002 in which you stated for the record i have supported same sex benefits both when i was on richmond hill council and in parliament former prime minister pierre trudeau stated the state has no business in the bed- rooms of the nation i agree with his view but if a significant social policy decision is to be made it must include a full public dis cussion as well mr wilfert what has happened to the support you have always offered the justice committees crosscanada hearings on samesex marriage gave ample opportunity for all to contribute to this discussion and as a result of those hearings our prime minis ter is recommending the right to equal access to marriage be enshrined in law opinion wi afitirszwed better 6iwi t0ctass fibfifll 9 yearlurft were late for health fffm what we must all remember is the issue is not one of religious freedom or forcing churches to marry samesex couples since churches already have the right to refuse to marry on many and varied grounds this is an issue of equality under the law for all canadians we are a secular society we made our choice in 1867 to become a confederation based on the democratic tra- ditionsof the constitutional monarchy allowing religion to enter into play alien ates and divides our country based on a set of values not all canadians hold as an mp you have the duty of not only listening to a constituency but also of speak ing for those who may not have the voice or the numbers to do so in your constituency voters have entrusted you to not only uphold the ideals of the majority but to pro tect the minority from their tyranny it is in this spirit we urge you to reconsid- er your approach to this issue and seek to build a bridge ofunderstanding recognize marriage is a valued and worthwhile institution for both samesex and oppositesex couples to solemnize both equally will strength- en bonds between people that is what mar riage is about ianamccallum cheryl cooke harrington cochairpersons pride york region development still eating up valuable agricultural land i came across some 1989 letters to the editor on uncontrolled and indiscriminate growth in markham it seems to me little has changed as far as development is concerned except to say developers now rule the roost we are slowly being eaten up by such pro jects as cornell to the south and lebovic homes south of stouffville will this ever end i think not unless the ontario government puts a stop to the use of prime agricultural land for housing on the retail side why does stouffville need two huge grocery stores three fast food outlets two dollar stores four doughnut shops and three video outlets because of this traffic through stouffville is now horrendous with traffic lights at every intersection so i have a word to the wise slow down everybody that means drivers developers and members of whitchurchstouffville council marian dissette stouffville editor in chief advertising director debora kelly retail fixer sales business manager nicole fletcher robert lazurko advertising director director of classified real estate production events management john futhey gord paolucci david suzuki oil industry looking for free ride after the federal government adopted the kyoto protocol last december canadians could be forgiven for thinking the issue had been solved that the country was united in its quest to reduce the emissions responsible for climate change unfortunately that assumption would be wrong groups that lobbied against the climate treaty such as the canadian association of petroleum producers simply changed course and are now trying to ensure industry targets are marshmallow soft even if it means sticking it to taxpayers capp lobbied hard against the kyoto treaty making outrageous claims abouthow reducing greenhouse gas pollution would cripple canadas economy and send us spiralling back into the stone age of course few people really believed their claims but the association alberta premier ralph klein and companies such as imperial oil are very influential they want to make sure the oil industry has to do as little as possible to meet kyoto their efforts appear to be working the purpose of kyoto is to reduce the emis sions causing climate change its just the start of much bigger reductions necessary to pre vent global warming from seriously disrupting our environment economy and quality of life canada has agreed to reduce emissions to 6 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012 the prob lem is the petroleum industry has increased emissions by 50 per cent since 1990 recently prime minister jean chretien sent alerter to the association indicatingthe indus try will only be required to reduce emissions intensity not actual emissions if the petroleum industry is allowed to increase emissions and the countrys goal is to decrease emissions overall other sectors will have to take up the petroleum industrys slack prime minister chretien did the right thing by adopting kyoto but the petroleum lobby has just begun the fight to make sure the industry gets away with ever increasing pollu tion levels we cannot afford to give the petroleum sec tor a free ride at the expense of the rest of canadian society dr david suzuki is a scientist broadcaster author and chairperson of the david suzuki foundation 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 letters to the editor v jlie tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email letterseconsuncom editorial editor jim mason newsroomeconsancom advertising retail sales manager steve kane skaneymgcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrewsymgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom real estate manager mikerogerson mrogersonymgcom production production manager pam nichols pnichoisymgcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil vonellymgcom york region events managing director debraweller dwelleiyrngcom shows manager staceyallen sallenymgcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 9052942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified io 7433353 fax 8534626 distribution 9652948244 ehueibpc canadian ontario press i circulations audit council board member suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stoufiville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary oftorstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhio vaughan citizen markham economist sun stoufmlle suntribune georglna advocate york regfon business times north oftheciry yoitegloncom and york region printing