~~ a Tre i tne SNE Vol. 126 No. 21 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1992 Copy 65¢ ¢1¢+4¢GSD 44 Pages Provincial budget will be tough: Mills By Scott Anderson Port Perry Star The provincial bu et "is go- ing to be tough, with a lot of diffi- t decisions to make," Gord Mills Durham East MPP says. Mr. Mills was addressing a small group of taxpayers who attended a pre-budget meeting on Saturday in Scugog. In an effort to make the bud- getary process more open, the provincial NDPs have, for the first time, decided to take the process to the public before it is introduced. Although unable to deter- mine exactly when the budget will be introduced, Mr. Mills be- lieves it will be the end of April. Mr. Mills says that no matter when and how the budget is in- troduced not a lot of people are going to be happy. "People are going to squawk, it'sonly natural," he said. But despite the displeasure it is going to cause the majority of the residents of Ontario, Mr. Mills says there is no choice but to introduce a tough budget. He says the Ontario govern- ment has a commitment to pare down the huge deficit, which he says it inherited after coming to power in 1990. Ontario's debt stands at more than $15 billion. Parade plans | | approved by councillors The Kinsmen Club of Port Perry have received the approv- al of Scugog Council to close the streets of Port Perry for its huge parade on April 25. A parade marking the official beginning of the "Proud to be Canadian" Celebration in Port Perry will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Port Perry High School and Ice leaves Scugog It's official, spring is finally here While spring officially | arrived three weeks ago, most area residents don't consider winter's over un- til the ice disappears from Lake Scugog. As of press time Monday evening, all but a large patch of ice trapped in the ay in front of Port Perry was gone. It is expected there will be little, if any ice left by the end of Tuesday. So, if you're a record keeper, mark down Tues- day, April 14, 1992 as the official day the ice left Lake Scugog. The last time the ice left on this date was eight years ago, in 1984. See a complete listing of dates in Star Marketplace this Thursday. HN make its way down to Palmer Park for opening ceremonies at 11 a m. It was originally sched- uled to begin at 10 a.m. but was pushed ahead 30 minutes to ac- commodate the large number o parade participants. : Council approved Kinsman Al Goreski's. request to shut down various streets through- out the day to accommodate the parade. Queen Street from the high school to Water Street will be closed for a number of hours to allow the parade a safe and problem-free route. Also a large portion of Water Street near Palmer Park will be closed for the day. Mr. Goreski also informed council that the Ministry of Health's air ambulance will be on display during the day near the boat launch area. Despite concern expressed by Regional Councillor Yvonne Christie, this parking lot will also be closed. Councillor Christie was con- cerned that the closure of the parking area would cause park- ing problems elsewhere in town. But with the exception of Councillor Christie, council vot- ed in favor of closing down the area. "I feel these people (Kinsmen Club) are going out of their way to put Port Perry on the map and we should bend over back- wards to help them," said Ward 3 Councillor Ken Gadsden. The air ambulance will be on display from noon to approxi- mately 4 p.m. The "Proud to be Canadian" Turnto Page 2 ol Tefolel Molo 1 LIVIN IR RANI AVAT A S10] Sed 40] [015 ~ It would like to shave it back to $10 billion. Mr. Mills says the recession, coupled with the negative ef- fects of free trade, and the feder- al government's decision to cut back on transfer payments, has made the process tough. "We must make difficult deci- sions," he says. "We believe they must be based on priorities." Mr. Mills says the priorities of the budget will include reducing the effect of the recession, pro- moting economic renewal and enhancing social justice. In order to meet the priorities of the budget Mr. Mills says the government needs to "ensure fiscal flexibility," but in order to do this they must control the deficit. "To control the deficit, we need to ensure our programs and services are efficient and ef- fective," he said. "We also need to make sure the budget con- tains the right and fair combi- nation of revenue and spending that will help Ontario support its priorities. Mr. Mills says the govern- ment has been leading the way in this by freezing salaries of MPPs and staff members, com- ing to a one per cent salary in- crease for unionized members, cutting operating budgets by 10 per cent and instituting pro- gramreviews. Mr. Mills says before any de- cision is made in the budgetary process, each move has got to be considered to see who it will help and hurt and what the im- pact will be. To that end the pub- lic has been invited to preview the budget-making process. Mr. Mills said that although he couldn't debate the budget, he would take the concerns of the people back to the treasurer Turnto Page 3 A FAMILY TRADITION FOR 125 YEARS soe a aoa aaa