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'or MPP. Flaherly School boarg )n defends omnibus hires ' IFantç pae 3 bifipage 4 officer VVJTT1 Town.riled by proposed levy revam.P Res t couldbebîg ta inrease By Mike Kowalski A proposai toaspark Ontario's housing lndustry couid have severe repercussions for Whitby taxpayers. Thep possibility of low.r development charges being applied ta new home construction could hit cuilont ratepayers squarely in the wallet, Town council heard Monday. Prôp«rtyr taxes could jump by at least 10 per cent if the provincial government puts restrictions on what -municipalities can collect from development charges, council was told. The prospect of such a scenario was termed "completely unacceptable and unimaginable" by north ward councilior and bdet chief Don Mitchell. Wlthout a word of dissent, council endorsed a resolution from Mitchell which cails on Municipal Affaira and Housing Minister AI Leach ta consider the impact on municipalities if h. proceeda with plans ta amend the Development Charges At At a reoent home builders convention, Leach announced that hie was considering changes to the. act which would limit- municipelities ta charging for only 'lhard services" such as sewers, roads and waste management. Municipalities would no longer be allowed to apply the coot of providing "soft services" - parka, recreation, libraries, fire protection -- ta fees assessed on new development. In Whitby's case, this would result in the. Townsa portion of the. development charges dropping from a current $5,431 per unit ta $2,329 per unit - for annual loss of about $1.7 million, Mitchell said. To offset this drop in revenue and maintain the "quaiity of service we have now," existng homeowners would face a 10 per- cent hike in taxes, he ciaimed. I imagine if~s berng done to spur the housing industry" speculated Mitchell, who as the operator of a building supplies business said h. stands to benefit firom a healthy houslng market. "But asking' exiýting .tpxcpayers to subsidize new development ls so unacceptable that any council would do is utmost ta stop it," he said. "Everybody will be draggng their heels on this andI urge Mr. Leach ta reconsider." a Councillor lienni*s Fox,,a frequent critlc of the. new regime at Qusen'. Park,, enthusiastically embraced Mitchell'à resolution, "I support the motion, however, 1 can't allow it ta go past without knocking the Conservative government at ieast once tonight. 1 haie them," said FoL. 'Meisgovernmentia proceeding without knowing the. ramifications of its actions. Its another example of the Conservatives kowtowing ta, big business,"h. said. Like iast, month's $6-biliion reduction in expenditures and transfe payments, FOX said Lachs proposai is another case of the government "downloading" onta municipalities t ay for uts promised 30 per cent income tax CUL "I dont understand thiat kind of financing at ail. When you're taking with one hand and giving with another, nothing's being saved." Fox agreed with Mtchell that deveiopmnent wiil be slowed in Whitby if Leh does not allow SEE PAGE 12 ed Staff, students respond s to coniments about pae5, ACYI pae2O MeTeague accuses CRTC and cable of CollusiO0n SubscrberS pay a 'bidden tax' P y Mike Kowalski Canadas ' cable television overseerbas been accused of being in bed witii the very industry it regulates. .Ontario, rlding MW Dan MoTage as called for a federal nsigation of what h. contends lu collusion between the. Canadian Rado4eevston and' .Telecommunications Commission (CRTC:.and tii.éoeuntrY's cable te91e8visio1idustry. -McTeague wants the. government ta probe the circunistances leading taoCRTC approval .of a "hidden tax" h. dlaims cable television subscribers will b. foroed ta pay over the. next five years. As -the. result of a "backroom deal" between the. CRTC and the - ndustry, McTeague charges thatý Canadians will contribute twice as much as they should towards a special fund for production of'domestic television prograras. Ho estimates cable companies will reap at least a $300-million windfail from tiie CRTC decision and.is calling on Ottawa ta order tii. commission'ta roll back-the increase awarded cable companies and Issue refuids ta their customers. Both the ORTO and cable industry lobby group, however, deny the. charges and insist that every aspect of the 1993 decision was-'above boird' and in full view of the public. 'Tii. federal government bas an obligation ta investigate wiiat occurred--between the. CRTC and cable industry," said McTeague about a complaint which was reoently filed witii the CRTC by the consume r group Cabie Watch Citizens Association. Tii. association is seeking a ME PAGE 12 WHEN TOLD BY the Pickering-Ajax-Whitby Animal Control Centre and the Whitby tire department that "cat oeils" *weren't among their services, Kimberly Bradley got help from a neighbour, Robert Fraser, and his ladder to rescue her two-month-old kitten, Smoky, that had climbed a tree Dec. 6 and had stili flot descended the next day, on Brock. Street South. Free Press photographer Jeremy Dresar joined Smoky in the tree for a photo session before coming down with the scared kitten. Photo by Jeremy Dre8ar, Whitby Free Preas Ajax may new Reg( chair