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economist sunsuntribune saturday dec 31 2005 markhamunionville parachute landing ground by chris traber staff writer as a federal riding markhamunionville seems like a nice place to run but candidates dont necessarily want to live here of the four national party candidates none are actually residents only ndper janice hagan lives in markham full time but her home is in neighbour ing oak ridgesmarkham not markhamunionville liberal incumbent john mccallum with homes in ottawa oakville and mark ham spends most of his days in the nations capital as our mp in addition to dual minis terial duties with national rev enue and natural resources the green partys wesley weese lives in belleville and conservative joe li resides in scarborough so what is it about wanti ng to represent a community in which youre not a dayto day resident for mr mccallum its about performance not proximity its not so important where a person sleeps he said rather its what you do for those in the riding ive represented markham for five years i believe ive done a lot and i feel privileged to repre sent the riding id like the electorate to judge me on achievement not where i live pressed for information on his markham address mr mccallum was ambiguous i dont want to get into the details- he said its not a requirement to live in a rid ing but it is a commitment i made and honoured i have three residences i dont call any of them my principle res idence in terms of time i spend most it in ottawa mr li a selfemployed chartered financial consul tant with an office in scar borough said he owns a property in the markham whether i win or lose ill be moving to markham with in the next 12 months he said my office borders on the riding i have many clients in markham j spend a lot of time in the community and i know it inside and out the conservatives did have locals vying for party candidacy he said there were three chal lengers against me mr li said eightytwo per cent of the riding association membership voted for me they picked me based on commitment and experi ence its not like im going to run once and then run away in his second attempt to represent markhamunion ville the multilingual india- born mr li hopes to market the party line to the 60 per cent immigrant population including the 35 per cent who are chinese i speak mandarin can tonese and hakka a signifi cant chinese dialect he said i also speak hindi and this time i am trying to make sure theres a different vote this time i want to encour age that part of the commu nity to come out and vote journalist musician and environmentalist mr weese is a candid candidate if theres no local candi- w community care access centre of york region were here for you looking for nursing home placement for yourself or a loved one call the ccac of york region at 18884702222 this message brought to you as a community service of the economist sunsuntribune boxing w december 26 31 2005 10am6pm over 150 pianos new used all priced to sell brand names including pearl river rieger kloss steinway yamaha kawai more onspot financing rent to own 905 7092771 piano keyboard centre 70 it beaver creek road wwwpianokeyboardcom richmond hill i lvy 7404 salsa tango chacha niteclub more f come dancing partner not required gwt studio 415 hood rd 12 call 9054151160 beginners welcome singles or couples try our fast start fm special join us our 9th year dont put it off any longer a4afee this the year you become a ballroom star election 2006 x theridin date well parachute one in he said generally thats how it works obviously it would be preferable if there was a local person look we dont even have an eda electoral district associa tion in markham my job description is to try artd do my best to create awareness for the green party move perception up a few notches and create a riding associa tion for the next time mr weese believes being a neophyte outsider has dis tinct benefits markhamunionville is an odd and interesting place he said its one of the most educated and affluent communities in canada its a hightech capital and its got upscale neighbourhoods i understand rural issues more than urban however sometimes it takes an out sider to add perspective to these issues if elected i suppose id spend most of my time in ottawa thats hypothetical and a stretch but i would be obligated to have a residence there just as id be obligated to represent the constituents needs federally because of riding bound ary adjustments ms hagan officially isnt a resident of the riding shes run in two provincial and a pair of feder al elections technically im just out side the boundary but ive lived here for 18 years my kids go to school in markham and ive been a soccer coach in markham and unionville she said but yes it is important to live in the com munity thats what democ racy is all about being the voice of the people you rep resent homegrown candidates are hard to find she said i wasnt going to ask the party to parachute a candi date in she said everyones sick of backroom boys who have their heads in a trough telling our rep what to tell us and whats good for us tim hortons free holiday skating its our way of saying thanks wed like to thank you with a way to glide through the season with a smile enjoy free holiday skating compliments of your local tim hortons let us show you our appreciation for being a part of the markham community visit us for a schedule of ice times and locations then come on out and join the fun a totthoifem together with you making good things happen