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fr stbuffime suntribune m thursday aog 12004 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonyrngcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial political games sideline reform once again political wrangling threatens to derail attempts to improve canadas ailing health care system the countrys premiers want ottawa to take over funding for prescription drugs arguing this would free up more provincial money to recruit and train muchneeded doctors and nurses prime minister paul martin on the other hand says shifting the overall cost of drug purchasing to ottawa would be much too costly he said he would prefer to pay only for a catastrophic drug program for patients who need expensive medica tions but cant afford them here we go again it seems once again the focus of fixing our universal health care system is being sidelined by political games where each side wants the other to pay the bills politicians have lost focus on jhe real issues that need to be addressed canadians arent getting the care they need when they need it because there arent enough professionals and equipment the ontario medical association estimates almost 1600 doctors are needed immediately to care for the more than one million residents across the province who dont have a family physician bickering over who will pay for drugs is not going to make this problem go away ontario premier dalton mcguinty says a national pharmagare plan cou pled with his health care tax hike will allow the province to concentrate on bringing trained medical staff here yet the health care premiums intro duced earlier this year have been criti cized by former saskatchewan premier roy romanows commission ihere are plenty of other ways the premier could reform medicare in his own back yard if the province wants to reduce waiting lines for treatment and free up doctors perhaps it should focus more on prevention the bottom line is ottawa and the premiers need to come up with reform plans that will benefit all canadians through a streamlined costefficient system god knows the money is in their hands taxpayers can attest to that canadians dont much care which level of government funds what part of the system ifs all the same taxpayer footing the bill after all they just want the system fixed hospnlt kins letters to the editor smaller lots on rose avenue hip of development iceberg the fields are being scraped and the flowers are gone as developers prepare for their subdivisions not satisfied with 9000 houses they are already looking at larger lots in the older part of town my home at 128roseave is now in danger of becoming part of a mini subdivision of five identical houses all in a row with a row of garages contrary to the precepts of whitchurch- stouffvilles secondary plan to protect bur unique small town country character our plan ning department appears to be facilitating the generic replacement of older houses in my case the developer wishes to flank the main house with two identical houses on 40foot lots thus opening up the possibility of another three houses where the main house stands our planning department could facilitate this by accepting a dedication of land for a walk through in exchange for allowing 40foot lots the neighbourhood has not been informed either of the proposed walk- through or the downsizing from 55 to 40foot lots few under stood the implication of the announcement from the committee of adjustment through the combined efforts of councillor robert hargrave our mayor numerous individu als and the whole neighbourhood once informed we managed to delay the committee of adjustment meeting and have this brought up for discussion at the aug 24 council meeting the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 gvic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a7z5 email jmasonymgcom new subdivisions abutting existing resi dences are to be compatible in height and densi ty according to the town the residents of the south side of rose avenue negotiated and thought they got a lot frontage of i 55 feet to correspond with our minimum existing frontage in 2003 for a 40foot frontage to now be acceptable is in my opinion irresponsible and reprehensible why is it we have to protect ourselves from our own employees they should work in our best interests not the interests of an oversized indus try hungry for business as this issue will affect many residents of the older unique part of town in the days ahead this meeting will give you an opportunity to address your concerns to council so please come aug 24 at 7 pm we need to save our unique small town char acter from the generic stamp of mass develop ment and it has to be done now this is the tip of the iceberg randy mole stouffville ob stouffville ammm f suntnbune t stouffville i un- a metroland community newspaper 34 gvic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 9056403612 fax 9056408778 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregioncom email jmasonymgcom member ontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press council editor in chief debora kelly editor jim mason reporters joan ransbenyhannelore volpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols office manager vivian oueil business manager robert lazurko advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci director of production johnfuthey managing director real estate mikerogerson sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews distribution manager barry black classified manager ann campbell general manager york region printing bob dean director marketing partnerships debraweller shows manager yrng events management stacey allen off the top with jim mason like father like son on crime stoppers tv reports a proud wayne snooks is looking down smiling the veteran cop died in 1998 fol lowing a lengthy battle with cancer his funeral packed a markham church for the three years before his death the wwtchurchstouffville res ident was the face and voice of the crime stoppers program in york region now his son todd snooks is the doing the same job as coordinator of crimefighting program across the region todd 32 didnt set out to follow in his dads shoes the stouffville district secondary school grad and former stouffville sun carrier was hired as a constable in peel region in 1997 moved to york region he moved to york two years later and had been patrolling the streets of richmond hill until joining crime stoppers in may the job was one of the last things i applied for its just something that came up said the married father of two boys who lives in uxbridge but theres definitely the aspect here of who my dad was and the fact that he was so well liked todd appears weekly on rogers tv and the new vr as well as cfrb radio asking for new tips on old crimes he cant talk about specific cases anonymity is the cornerstone of the program but says there are numerous success stories locally and provincially praise for directors his dad may have talked about crime stoppers around the dinner table but todd wasnt aware of how much the 16 members of the commu nity board of directors did for the pro gram hes impressed i have a very wide base of inter ests said todd a member of the york police dive team when not at the crime stoppers office and with policing there is so much to do within it this is another of those jobs dad is smiling jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune