The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist sunsuntribune saturday nov 1 2003 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 cmc ave stouflville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot letters to the editor region transit making progress re shuttle buses can solve go problem letter to the editor oct 23 in reply to several comments regarding access to and from go stations yorkregion transit yrt would like to advise your read ers about the services we offer yrt provides transit access to every go station within the region this is done with either specifically designed go shuttles or with regular routes scheduled to coordinate with train arrival and departure times yrt carries approximately 1000 passen ger trips per day to and from the stations which equates to a saving of about 500 park ing spaces within the past year yrt introduced a new shuttle from the cornell and wismer communities in markham a new local bur i oak route to the mount joy station in markham and is actively promoting the langstaff shuttle to residents along the hwy 7 corridor between leslie street and bayview avenue in thornhill yrt shuttle services are subsidized by go transit 75 per cent of adult fare with a nom inal 25cent passenger payment this pay ment provides yrt with about 70000 of additional annual revenue and a means of tracking ridership since the amalgamation of local transit ser vices in 2001 the region has doubled its invest ment in public transit we are pursuing the implementation of the first stage of a rapid transit system with our quick start project the results are encouraging last year york region transit had the highest ridership growth rate in canada we still have a ways to go but with a co ordinated gta wide approach and dedicated funding from queens park york region will have a firstclass public transit system that will make all of us proud dongordon general manager york region transit event put spotlight on local talent we want to thank the economist sunsuntribune for inviting us to the york region newspaper groups v third annual celebration iof the arts evening at markham theatre it was so inspiring to see such high- calibre homegrown talent york region has a reputation of being innovative and progressive it is so important we do not lose sight of but continue to encourage support and celebrate cultural pursuits as we grow and develop celebration of the arts shows york is a place that fosters and is committed tothe arts the smiles on the faces of the performers and the audiences overwhelming response was evidence of this opinion 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 markham on l3p 1m3 email letterseconsuncom what an incredible experience for these performers to have the opportunity to perform at the markham theatre and receive recogni tion that may not otherwise come their way we know how much time and energy planning and staging an event such as this takes wed like to thank everyone involved for their commitment time and effort in making this evening such a success suealsmitko unionville kennedy should cross floor re one mpp should cross floor letter to the editor oct 25 an excellent suggestion from reader tom pashkov i nominate gerard kennedy minis ter of education in the mcguinty govern ment to cross the floor of the legislature and give his former colleagues party status when he managed the toronto food bank mr kennedy was a cardcarrying member of the ndp senator keith davey a prominent cog in the liberal organization handpicked him to run for the leadership of the ontario liberal party clearly the senator believed there was no one in the party capable of winning an elec- tion mr kennedy was his only hope at the leadership convention rank-and- file members did not relish an outsider vying for top spot so they gave it to a relative new comer to the liberals dalton mcguinty mr kennedys ndp heart is still beating he was the only liberal to vote against the pay hike recommended for provincial politicians go on gerard make the move to where your heart rests jshaw markham mayors disgust misplaced re mayor disgusted at regions construc tion yard oct 25 as a 20year resident ofthe unionville area near kennedy road and 16th avenue i appre ciate mayor don cousens actions however i might ask where his disgust was when tens of millions of dollars of house building permits were handed out in our beautiful little town the resulting explosion in population and automobiles means i cant sit in my back yard which backs on to 16th avenue in the sum mer because the noise of speeding traffic is deafening in fact the traffic only slows down every morning when im trying to make the eight- minute drive to my office a drive that now takes 25 minutes if this can be called progress perhaps voters in the coming election should bestow the appropriate reward on those responsible for it david j fleishman unionville editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director of production johnfuthey advertising director retail foer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci david suzuki mothernature newest scapegoat i happen to live in a part ofthe coun try that has of late been especially hard hit by what are often called natural disasters this summer the interior of british columbia was ravaged by drought and forest fires not to mention the insidious spread of a little beetle that seems intent on devouring the entire province before anyone could even catch a breath the drought turned into record flooding on the coast as a result of these tumultuous events thousands of people have been evacuated hundreds have lost their homes many have lost their jobs and a few have even lost their lives it hasnt been a good year so its only natural for people to be looking for a scapegoat yet i was still quite taken aback when my local newspaper bizarrely chose to blame mother nature the lead editorial in the oct 21 mommy dearest claims our culture has a history of viewing nature as benign as the wellspring from which all good things come and argues its time to relieve our- selves of the notion that everything nat ural is good perhaps the sun is under the impres sion its readers are infants or merely stu pid but i imagine most might have fig ured out nature does not just cause the sun to shine and birds to chirp but also volcanoes to erupt and rivers to overflow the intent ofthe editorial it seems is to remove any hint of human culpability from the disasters that have gripped the province never mind the extreme weath er events and insect infestations british columbia has been experiencing are exactly what scientists have been telling we will be seeing more of if we dont stop pumping increasing amounts of heat- trapping gases into the atmosphere instead the editorial seeks to frame the world as nature vs humans as though the two entities are fundamental ly different and at odds although its apt in many ways refer ring to nature as our mother reinforces the idea nature is outside of ourselves something that will always take care of us no matter how badly we screw up 7b discuss this topic with others visit the discussion forum at vmvdavidsuzukiorg editorial editor jim mason newsroomeconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane skaneyrngcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrewsymgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom real estate manager mike rogerson mrogersonymgcom production production manager pam nichols pnlcholsymgcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil vonellymgcom york region events managing director debraweller divellerymgcom shows manager stacey allen sallenymgcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 9052942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8534626 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontarlopress circulations audit council board member suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhra vaughan ctken markham economist 4 sun stouffville suntribune georgia advocate york regkxi business times north of the crryyorkregoncom and york regan printing