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economist sunsuntribune saturday oct 25 2003 a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouflville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot letters to the editor good candidates out there for many years i have witnessed the resigned and cynical attitude many people have toward politicians and the system after all arent they all untrustworthy self- serving easily bought isnt democracy just a nice idea encouraged by a friend to do my civic duty i grudgingly wentto my first provincial allcan didates meeting and have since attended municipal candidates meetings in wwtchurchstbufmlle listening to the candi dates has given me a whole new perspective ive seen three types one is highprofile smoothtalking and manipulative often backed with lots of money this one usually wins t the next type of candidate tries too hard to say and do what he thinks the public wants to hear he sometimes wins because people are afraid of the first one the last type sincerely wants to do what is right often having a clear vision this candi date rarely wins because we dont think he has the strength or experience for the job maybe we should give him a chance i believe that there are good people out there to find them we must open our eyes and listen with our hearts sandra carvello gormley thanks for help with charity run to all those that were part of the third annual markham departure for the clbc run for the cure oct 5 1 want to extend thanks for being part of a wonderful day for a wonderful cause there were approximately 100 people this year and we raised 7700 to garry gosling and staff from laidlaw transit i cannot express how grateful we are to have a worryfree shuttle service from newmarket aurora and markham to nathan phillips square and back the group seems to keep growing which is proof your generosity is very much appreci ated we are proud to unofficially call our selves me laidlaw team we hope to be an even larger group next year so participants mark the date on your calendars and call me to reserve your seats again annasearles markham chairperson should be elected during the last municipal election i was extremely concerned about apparent self- serving candidate endorsements by the chairperson of york region i noticed a consistent pattern in the cam paign literature of all incumbent mayors and opinion regional councillors it appeared chairperson bill fisch endorsed each and every one of them over new candidates seeking election however it is these very same mayors and regional councillors who elect the chairper son in my humble opinion this is a pretty obvious demonstration of you scratch my back and ill scratch yours hopefully this wont be the case this year in some other regions the public elects the regional chairperson however york region chooses not to do this to my mind that would be a far better demonstration of the democratic process joyceriettie unionville one mpp should cross floor the provincial ndp party wins signifi cantly more votes in the recent election arid runs by all accounts the best campaign but loses two seats it finishes one seat under the fninimum for official party status and loses all the rights and responsibilities that go with the designation the ndp has lobbied premier dalton mcguinty for reprieve with no luck mr mcguinty has in strategically sound fash ion denied any pleas from ndp leader howard hampton for official party status i dont expect a career politician like mr mcguinty to act in a truly democratic fash ion when it clearly doesnt serve his interests however there still exists a need to rectify the situation i have come up with an idea that falls into that category of ideas that have characters iri movies saying thats so crazy it just might work with the liberals and ndp so ideologic cally similar and liberals holding a massive majority wouldnt it be wise of one coura geous liberal who faithfully serves democ racy and the people ahead of their party to join the ndp the move itself wouldnt be entirely altru istic on the part of the exliberal mpp id like to think whatever selfserving ire he may absorb from the ontario liberal party itself would be more than offset by the incredible political capital gained from the electorate in general for the mpp who makes the brave move the shift of just one mpp in the ontario legislature would reinstate the official party status of the ndp and fix this immediate problem of disenfranchisement felt by so may ontario voters it would also give a starting point from which to institute real political change in the area of proportional representation tompashkov richmond hill editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director of production johnfuthey advertising director retail fixer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci david suzuki love nature its in our genes while in ottawa recently i was amazed to discover the city was packed with tourists coming to witness thespecta- cle of the fall colours really i shouldnt have been surprised nature tends to draw crowds the worldjjver in algonquin park each year thousands of people spend their evenings straining to hear the call of wolves in towns such as churchill manitoba and iqualuit nunavut locals welcome visitors coming to expert ence the annual migration of polar bears and the display of northern lights according to renowned harvard ecolo- gist edward owilson more people around the world visit zoos and aquaria each year than watch all professional sports this is only natural he claims because humans have a profound need to affiliate with the rest of nature an innate need he has named biophiliaaioveoflife try showing a young child a butterfly or flower or for that matter a spider or snake you will see an instant attraction often with the child wanting to stuff the object in her mouth that wilson believes is a direct expression of biophilia unfortunately he says in our concern that something might bite sting or dirty usj we teach our children to be repelled or frightened by nature eventually replacing biophilia with biophobia recently the spectacular achievement of elucidating the entire genetic blueprintin a human genome was deservedly feted as an historic milestone but in the rapturous speculation about the potential benefits new drugs cures for hereditary disease elimination of mutations i believe we ignored the most thrilling insight gained in the dna of all human beings are found hundreds of genes identical to those found in mice fish insects plants and bacteria the human genome project revealed what many native people have always understood we are genetically related to all other forms of life they are our evolu tionary kiri our actions can no longer dri ven by the perception of other species as resources but must be tempered by the recognition they are our relatives take the nature challenge and team more at wwwdavldsuzuklorg letters policy the stouflville 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 the tribune 9 heritage rd markhamon l3p 1m3 email ietierseecursuncom editorial i editor jim mason newsro6meconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane skaneymgcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrews9ymbcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom real estate manager mikerogerson mmgersonymgcom production production manager path nichols pnkholsymgcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil vonettymgxom york region events managing director debra welter dwellerymgcom shows manager staceyallen sallenymgcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 9053942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8534626 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontarfopress circulations audit council board member a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stouflville tribune published every thursday and saturday b a member of the metroland printing publishing kid distributing ud a vaotlyowned subsidiary oftbrstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york regon newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhillvaughan cteen markham economist sun stouffvine suntribune georgina advocate york region business times north of the cty yorkregoocom and york region printing