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6stouffviue suntribune saturday oct 7 2006 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 6290 main st stouffviileonl4a7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor thanks to seminar supporters re taste of disabled life sept 28 on behalf of the whitchurchstouffville accessibility advisory committee i would like to thank the following agencies volun teers and those who attended our very suc cessful accessibility issues day last week we had 600 people take part in the inter active sessions from all but one of our public schools grades 7 and 8 plus high school stu dents teachers and the public the feedback from each was very positive and we were asked when we would be doing this again the presenting agencies were the cnlb cerebral palsy ms society get active learning disabilities association for york region canadian hearing association acquired brain injury support group guide dogs of canada and friends war amps canadian march of dimes and the town of whitchurchstouffville heather andrews whitchurchstouffville stouffvilles generosity means more for cancer research how do you follow a record year that cel ebrates the 25th anniversary of one mans amazing marathon of hope if you live in stouffville you match it last year the stouffville terry fox run and local school participation contributed more than 100000 to cancer research in terry foxs name this september we did it again our community event sept 17 set a record and raised more than 84000 our second annual national school run day sept 29 contributed an additional 12000 once our final tally is in we will exceed the 100000 mark again a young man had a single dream that dream has created a world of hope sandy schell kennedy whitchurchstouffville landmark deserves better the thomas family homestead is on the east side of the ninth line north of 16th avenue markham its a century house with in the cornell development for a municipal ity that prides itself in beautiful homes and appealing architecture this site is a disgrace the weeds are waisthigh not only on this particular property but also across the road while i thank councillor john webster for responding to my calls and recognizing my disgust the problem still exists we deserve bettet cornell neighbours deserve better the town deserves better jim thomas stouffville government more than welcome to use research recently news blogs and newspapers reported some politicians had cribbed research con ducted by my foundation and used the information to build their own environmental agendas this news sent many a blogger allatwitter while some of them focused on whether or not the information had been adequately referenced others decried this action on the part of the politicians as proving they had no ideas of their own so they had to steal them from oth ers allow me to clear up something right now to all politicians looking for ways to reduce our footprint on nature or to use politicianspeak create an environmental platform knock yourselves out feel free to steal pilfer borrow rent filch or otherwise take any research my foundation does and put it to good use this may seem obvious to some but the whole point of con ducting and publishing this research is to get people to actual ly use it as public education it helps raise awareness of environmental problems but more important it pro vides solutions to those problems and most of those solutions are best implemented by our political and business leaders rather than by individuals so if you ask me if it bothers me politicians are stealing the solutions brought forward by my foundation the answer is no to use a computer term we consider this information open source its a free buffet please take all you like the whole reason why we do the research is to effect change if those who have the power to make those solutions happen actually use the information so much the better this is how change hap pens as for the complaint using my david suzuki foundations ideas shows politi cians have none of their own nonsense since when do great leaders come up with all their ideas on their own societies built around the nar row viewpoints of one person are called dictatorships and tend to be decidedly backward and not terri bly pleasant and if the notion is ideas should only be coming from with in a particular party again non sense this kind of partisan mentality is a form of xenophobia and it kills new ideas then again perhaps that explains the state of canadian pol itics ive also been asked if i worry if one political party steals our ideas and runs with them it might be offputting to the other parties that is a concern but we cant control who uses our research and do not we want to the david suzuki foundation is nonpartisan we share our research with all political parties and encourage them all to adopt the solutions we bring forward frankly its a tough slog all around we can have a great idea and support from the vast majority of the public but political leaders can turn it down flat because it might cost votes in an important constituency or because of politi cal lobbying from an industry group sometimes there doesnt appear to be any reason why an idea is rejected other than fear of change that can be disheartening but at least if the information is out there the public can use it to make changes in their own lives or ask our leaders to take action my foundation is just one of dozens of organizations across canada offering solutions to the countrys environmental and social problems rather than ignoring these solutions because they dont come from within a particular party it is my hope our political leaders open their eyes embrace change and start taking advantage of all this free advice that isnt stealing its just good leadership take the nature challenge and learn more at wwwdavidsuzukiorg letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribuncrescrvcs the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stouffville on l4a725 jmasonyrngcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonymgcom assistant editor rick vanderlinde rvanderlindeyrngcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewiymgcom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallenymgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbeuyrngcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauymgcom new business development manager mikerogerson mrogersonyrngcom production team leader sherry day sdayymgcom editorial 9056402612 fax9052941583 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353fax 9052941538 distribution 9056402612 canadbn to board umber onurlo press counc suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the suntribune 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 thomhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing