The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

thVflERALl5L Wednesday July 17 Features Local downtown future depends on unique thinking In contemplating how Georgetown should be developed people may want to consider the question where should the downtown core of Georgetown be located The answer most people would probably give is the area located in and around Main Street more commonly known as the Georgetown Central Business Area While this response may be true today and thats ques tionable it certainly wont be the answer at the end of the decade In a recent column on the issue of housing identification I wrote the preservation of Georgetowns downtown area depends on a greater number of people living within walking and cycling distance of the location In response Gail Rutherford President of a local ratepayers group Residents Active in Development Decisions wrote a letter to the Herald saying residential development of the Dominion Seed- House lands on Guelph Street would go a long way to pro viding an additional source of people needed for the downtown area to establish a strong identity as a commercial hub for Georgetown I cant say for certain but I believe Ms Rutherfords predic tion is supported by many in the community However there is one problem with this prediction Those behind the Dominion Seed House support the idea of their lands someday in the future becoming the residential and commercial centre for Georgetown In a recent article in the Bens Banter by Ben Dummett Herald Dominion Seed House VicePresident David Is quoted as saying It might not happen in my lifetime but it will happen someday He based his assessment of the companys future on the number of acres the company owns stretching between Maple Avenue and Mouotainview Road on Guelph Street and the strategy for development of the lands There will be no strip develop ment said Mr Krause Instead it will most probably be planned community with both residential and commercial projects he hinted The idea being people will be able to live shop and maybe work in the same area development of these lands isnt the only competition Georgetowns downtown area faces The Georgetown Market Place is currently undergoing a massive renovation that when completed will be an indoor mall not only comprised of a variety of stores but also an additional largescale department store Zelters is already located in the plaza and once the renovation project is completed there will beaWoolcostore As Well local construction company Construction has applied to the Town to build a commercial complex just up the road from the plaza on Guelph Street Finally Georgetown- based developer has received Town approval to build a commercial plaza on Guelph Street next to the Georgetown- Nerval border The development planned for Guelph Street should send a clear message to those living and work ing in the downtown core unless they take the initiative and do things to give the area a more distinctive character it will only be a matter of time before the location will only be recognized as nothing but the past centre of Georgetown Political Forum- Ottawa Report Ottawa to soon outlaw government spending There are not many victories in this business of politics But there are a few and when they come they feel good Im not talking about winning elections but rather about chang ing minds This past week when the Minister of Finance stood up and announced it will soon be against the law for Otawa to overspend that felt like a vic tory For almost three years I have been asking the federal govern ment on your behalf to get its financial house in order faster Two specific recommendations came out of virtually every Town Hall meeting I held in this com munity The same two showed up in the report of the tax committee And theyve been repeated to me by worried business people and hardpressed taxpayers Youve told me that if we have to endure the GST then the money it raises should go to pay down the deficit and not finance new government programs And youve also said you want some real guaranteed limits on government spending Taxes can go no higher so paying our debt will have to come through less spending That has been the message to Ottawa from Burlington Georgetown Acton Bolton and points inbetween And these have been goals I personal ly pursued especially since step ping down as House of Commons committee chairman last year I did not want to be an MP to have a title instead I wanted this job to accomplish what I couldnt do as a newspaper columnist and critic I wanted results So many of us lobbied Michael Wilson hard to put the GST against the deficit because until the deficit falls sharply theres no hope for tax relief Finally he agreed and in last Februarys budget made the announcement Just a few weeks ago legislation to set up a GST bank account for the deficit was passed And now the new finance minister Don has come through the legislation which for the first time ever will limit the ability of the government to spend This was a key recommenda tion in a report on taxes which I submitted to the minister last January after warning him that policies must change or Canada risks a tax revolt A three per cent cap is being placed on federal spending for the next five years In other words it will be against the law for Ottawa to exceed thai And if is needed for some pro gram it will automatically re quire cuts someplace else And because three per cent is below the inflation rate it means real government spending is going to fall each year While this is not the zero per cent cap that I asked for its still quiet an event Compare this three per cent ceiling with the 14 per cent oneyear jump in spen ding just announced by the pro vince of Ontario If Queens Park had the same law the feds have just announced then maybe On tario taxpayers could have been spared the billion in new taxes just handed them The only guarantee we have of keeping taxes down is for govern ments to keep spending down Its just that simple Governments that overspend or spend more on programs than they take in as taxes are tax These days people are asking for less government not more and they continue to question why it is Canada needs so many levels of government and so many politi cians Maybe Ottawa will take up another of my recommendations Reform Canada so we have five regions replacing ten provinces and get rid of five governments off the bat Wed have stronger economic units and less need for one area to subsidize another We might also be able to appease Quebec that way And wed be rid of some of the 19th Century in stitutions we no longer need While were at it lets fire the Senate Cmon prime minister Make my day Despite promises the military has faced numerous cutbacks OTTAWA The promise four years ago in a longawaited white paper on defence policy was clear and unconditional The country was told its long- neglected armed forces would be rejuvenated rebuilt and expand ed given a new sense of direction and an honest commitment from government Prime Minister Brian Mulroney boasted the forces would have a pride borne of no ble purpose Defence minister Penin Beatty promised a force for the century But the commitment soon dissolved in the fiscal morass and the governments dithering indecision and cutbacks since delivery of the policy document has infuriated many present and former defence chiefs Just how angry they are became apparent in late April when the rancor burst into public view with the sudden resignation of the vicechief of defence staff ViceAdmiral Charles Thomas said he couldnt accept a new- longrange plan of unacceptable and priorities A changing budget lefl him more than billion short he said later Stirred But even before the vice- admirals resignation hints of further spending cuts and uneasiness headquarters also an outspoken community of experts once employed by the armed forces Almost a year before the Gulf War the Ottawabased Defence Association National Network sensed the countrys defence- related responsibilities were be ing compromised by spending restraints The association cau tioned against cutbacks It recognized the diminished risk of global nuclear war but foresaw a need to contain regional conflicts Military strength has a large role in international affairs and if Canada cannot meet its com mitments its credibility will be diminished the association main tained There is no free lunch it declared We Canada want to adopt positions of principle on af fairs in South America China South Africa We want to support NATO But we are not sure we want to pay the price In early May the association urged Mulroney to provide the Defence Department with clear guidance and adequate funding If anything there is an increas ing not decreasing likelihood the military will be called into more peacekeeping and peacemaking situations at home and abroad the nonprofit organization predicted Ten days later Defence Mfn- Marcel Masse chopped jobs at defence headquarters and cut capital spending by almost million One who is convinced the government is moving in the wrong direction is prominent association director Buzz Nixon a former navy com mander and deputy minister of national defence from to Nixon says he was astounded by the governments 1987 white paper on defence His years of crunching numbers at head quarters told him the lavish spen ding plan was Inly two per cent of the gross Ottawa Bureau national product has been com mitted to defence spending put ting the country out of step with the rest of the world he argues A more appropriate level would be four per cent which is what many of our allies are spending operations and maintenance You have to close bases and cut the number of people But first the government should provide the department with a clear policy direction Nix on says The Soviet threat has not disappeared as many would seem to believe and instability in a number of Soviet republics is worrisone he says And Canada must be prepared to contribute to future gulftype crises he adds Nixon believes Canada should focus its attention on a stronger United Nations organization and build defence forces that would be adequate to help maintain an orderly stable world He sees the day the UN will have established procedures for calling up an international force on short notice to support its resolutions He believes leading democracies including Canada should support that process and be prepared to contribute forces whenever required If we are to be among the most advanced countries of the world and have a sense of respon sibility for stability in the world we better be prepared to be there he says And to maintain a modern force 30 per cent of the depart mental budget must be allotted to equipment Nixon says He recalls his early days as deputy minister when the department just barely survived with eight per cent of its budget going to ac quisitions Falling Over time the capital alloca tion was gradually increased to per cent but when the Pro gressive Conservatives won power in the figure began to slip Nixon says The depart ments current capital envelope of billion is just over per cent of the total budget Nixon says the funding can be restored Within the present budget cap but his prescription calls for strong medicine a regular force reduction of up to 15000 and a 10percent cut in THE ARTHRITIS SOCIETY Tomorrows Gift Whether its a bequest a insurance or a charitable a plan today to ensure continuing support for arthritis research Nearly four million Canadians who have arthritis are on you For more information about our planned giving program contact The Arthritis Society GIVE to give HOPE