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6 economist sunsuntribune saturday july 17 2004 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot opinion editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director of production john futhey advertising director retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci litters to the editor rouge river too stinky to enjoy re creek stinks so does response residents say july 13 my friends- afrd i enjoy mountain biking and trail riding and when we cant get to the seaton trail or durham forest we would ride the trails along rouge river we first noticed a smell on one of our rides about 18 months ago and we didnt know where it was coming from so we ignored it thinking it would go away we kept riding and about 15 minutes down the trail the smell was still there and we were starting to get headaches and couldnt stand the stink anymore we cant ride these trails when the river is like this it is literally unbearable the smell is also present when driving along hwy 48 at the bottom of the hill just north of hwy 407 even with the windows up it is still awful i think the smell is there whether it rains or not but rain makes it con siderably stronger i never took action about this smell because i thought it was just temporary but months went by and its still there like the woman in the article and many other markham residents i did not know who to call or that a spill hotline even existed something needs to be done about this daniel ready markham many offered assistance sometimes kindness comes when we least expect it i had a mechanical problem with my car two weeks ago i pulled on to the shoulder of the road put on my four- way flashers and raised the trunk not knowing what to expect as it happened i did not have my cell phone i did however have two small grand children five and six years old stranded with me on durham road 30 a number of people stopped to offer assis tance or to check if we were ok one was a young mother from stouffville who had her little one asleep in her van she offered the use of her cell phone and refused any payment another was a grandfather with his grandson in the backseat he tried without success to call our dealership in pickering a third individual was an aussie who checked to see if help was coming then sug gested we would be much safer if we stood well in front of the car rather than behind it another was a farmer on whoseproperty we were stranded in the southbound lane a young woman offered the use of her cellphone still another was a man from sleepy hollow who suggest ed we lock up the car and leave it for the tow truck driver and he would drive us home eventually the truck arrived and took us to the dealership 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 the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email letterseconsuncom to all who stopped to offer assistance i would like to express my thanks i reminded my grandchildren grandma had learned a hard lesson the cellphone should not be in the cubby of the desk at home but in my purse when i go travelling especially when i have little people with me louise beauchamp stouffville vandals cant destroy pride is there no pride in our flag my family has resided in markham for sev eral years and we have always proudly flown the canadian flag outside our home sadly not everyone shares our values our daughters are just seven and 10 but already understand the pride of being canadian we took them with us to the federal election polling station when voting and stressed the importance of civic responsibility it was our sevenyear old who noticed the absence of not one but two flags from outside our home one morning the flagpost was missing the flag post and anchor were ripped from the brick of our garage but that was not enough the flag attached to one of our car windows was snapped off and discarded in our bushes it is not that our home was vandalized its that at a time when we were celebrating our great country and the freedoms we enjoy our flag has no meaning to these vandals i know this has taught a difficult lesson to our children but i believe it has made them prouder still of the new flag and post we have installed deirdrebrough markham taxpayers shouldnt pay consultants to lobby re stakes high in sewer battle july 1 0 prime minister paul martin and premier dalton mcguinty i require an answer from both of you why do york region chairperson bill fisch and regional council have to resort to hiring consultants with vast political connections to get things done with the provincial and feder al governments has your government created an interme diate consultantsonly tier between you and municipal taxpayers again york region is hiring a politically connected consulting firm navigator ppg whose personnel are well connected with federal and provincial officials i believe the term is highpowered lobby organizations this is to deal with the handling of crucial trunk lines to the big pipe and the consev quences with ecogroups this is not the first time mr fisch and york region have hired politically connected con sultants by hiring a socalled government relations consultant york region helped secure 150 million from ottawa and queens park for rapid transit mississauga which did nt hire a politically connected consultant and made the same rapid transit request received zero dollars why are mr fisch and york region coun cillors who are very generously paid and elected to negotiate for the regional taxpayer all of a sudden not competent to deal with higher levels of government instead the region resorts to costing the taxpayer sinful amounts of money by hiring consultants to do the job for which council lors were elected in a nutshell this whole scenario smacks of underthetable deals better known as payoffs hire a highpowered politically well- connected consultant and things will be looked after have we now introduced an additional level of nonelected government called polit ically connected consultants use them or get nothing and premier mcguinty since regional government is under provincial jurisdiction if nonelected politically appointed mr fisch and the elected council cant do the job let the province step in and obliterate york region council before it squanders taxpayer dollars with abusive consultant fees peter k macleod thornhill monetary theory beyond martin i re election offered clear choices letter to the editor by s bunton july 10 5 in his critique of the column by debora kelly the letter writer asked where are the facts to prove mr martin lacks crucial leader- ship qualities if this person requires facts regarding paul martins leadership abilities i suggest he read one big party to keep canada independent a book by paul hellyer a cabinet member in the pearson and trudeau governments mr hellyer points out after 10 years in ottawa prime minister martin still doesnt understand monetary theory and his hope for mr martin as finance minister was dev astated with the 1995 budget which he wrote was a disaster for canada mr hellyer sets out the causalities of mr martins cutbacks health care canadas crown jewel education and high tuition for university students cuts also reduced envi ronmental programs rocked the arts and weakened the armed forces mr martins budget slowed the economy and increased unemployment mr hellyer goes on to point out mr martin is a firm believer in globalization even though he voted against the north american free trade agreement does anyone deserve to be prime minis ter when they are hell bent on spending our taxes to get elected but not the taxfree prof its from his offshore shipping company me thinks not jshaw markham 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