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

6 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007 EDITORIAL Distributed to every home in Acton and area as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Frances Niblock Mike OLeary Angela Tyler Janis Fread Rebecca Ring Publisher Editorial Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Bruce Cargill Danielle McIsaac Janine Taylor with Hartley Coles (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within five days of publication. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. Unbridled growth The Town of Milton is justifiably proud of the almost unbridled growth experiences since the Big Pipe from Lake Ontario was extended to the community. For years the town, once the county seat for Halton, was hampered by a lack of portable water for expansion and lobbied hard to tap in to Lake Ontarios vast water resources. When it happened it set off a flurry of economic activity the likes of which had never been experienced before. Milton is starting to resemble Mississauga, its nearest neighbour to the east, the fiefdom of Hazel McCallion who candidly acknowledges the city made some mistakes on its headlong rush for expansion. Now that Mississauga has used up almost all the available land for expansion, the eyes of developers and business are turning west to Milton. The pattern in Milton is following Mississaugas lead in paving over some of the best farm land in Ontario and creating gridlock on roads never designed to accommodate the volumes of traffic growth entails. The fact that Milton is situated on Highway 401 is another factor in its tremendous growth. In 2006, for instance, the Town issued industrial and commercial permits which represented over 1.8 million square feet of new space. Some of that is warehousing being built on spec that ten- ants will come. Much of it is solid commercial and industrial business that helps relieve the tax burden on residents. Halton Hills, which has its own corridor along 401, would just like to share in the industrial bounty. Some industries have already located in the Halton Hills corridor. More will likely come but it will likely never reach the extent of Miltons expansion which is a good thing because again a lot of the land along the corridor is better suited to agricultural pursuits. Of course we must always have growth but were not convinced the tremendous growth such as Miltons in such a short period of time is necessarily a positive. Far better is controlled growth where services can match expansion. Need better deal Small business, which accounts for more than half of Ontarios jobs, is asking for a better deal from Queens Park in the upcoming budget. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) presented pre-budget recommendations to the standing committee on finance and economic affairs this week alleging optimism has been steadily declining among Ontarios small and medium-sized business owners and they want some signal from the Province that would give entrepreneurs some reason to believe things will improve (in the next budget). The pre-budget submission, titled Choose Small Business for a Change, highlights the fact that, although SMEs account for 98 per cent of all firms by number, are responsible for more than half of Ontarios jobs and are the provinces strongest job creators, an examination of the governments record shows the balance of new initiatives has gone against small busi- ness interests. Andrew pointed out that since the governments prior budgets have focused elsewhere, this time around the SME sector is looking for some support for being the economic bedrock of communities across Ontario. Based on the feedback of its 42,000 members in Ontario, Andrew said that would mean: lower taxes for businesses, lower taxes for individuals, and less government intervention and regulation. CFIB members identified corporate income tax, personal income tax and property tax as the top priorities in tax relief. They are also calling for a moratorium on all new provincial legislation and regulation that adds to more burden on small business. The CFIB says budgets are about choices and the government has a choice about whether it will give small business the wherewithals to expand, create jobs, invest in new equipment and improve employee benefits and salaries or continue to ignore them. Its a good time for the CFIB to speak out with many small business people struggling through a post-Christmas slump which has been exacer- bated by the good old Canadian winter. Its time for some good news about budgets instead of the inevitable annual 2-3-4% hikes we experience from lower levels of taxation. Few business owners or wage earners either can keep abreast of the increases. Its time for a better deal. FORAGING FOR FODDER: The winter winds may rage and a heavy blanket of snow may cover pastures everywhere but these horses observed from the Dublin Line know that underneath the white stuff is green grass which is like lettuce on a ham and cheese for two-legged animals. Framed by a cedar rail fence and the bleak silhouettes of maples and other indigenous trees, the photo captures some of the serenity in this areas rural areas during our winters. Report shows: Province underfunding Haltons social services and health care Halton Regional Council has endorsed three recommendations highlighted in the Strong Commu- nities Coalition Report Growing Pains. The report highlights the grow- ing funding inequities for health and social services in the GTA/905 regions and urges the Province to take immediate steps regard- ing funding for these services to improve access to them. The report shows GTA/905 residents which includes Halton, receive $181 less per person for social services and $246 less per person for health care services compared to the average person in Ontairo. The report demonstrates that provincial funding for health and social services in the GTA/905 are not keeping pace with the popula- tion growth taking place in Halton Region, says Gary Carr, Halton Regional Chair. While Halton is taking a proactive approach in including health and social service issues in its response to Places to Grow through the Durable Halton Plan, we urge the provincial gov- ernment to take action, along with the federal government in coming up with solutions to fix the fund- ing gap. The Growing Pains report was based on the findings of a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) audit, which showed services in the GTA/905 receive significantly less funding compared to the rest of Ontario and that the gap in funding for these services is growing. Growing Pains reports that the annual funding gap for provin- cially-funded social services in the GTA/905 has grown over the last several years to more than $550 million, while the health care gap is over $900 million. More specifi- cally, GTA/905 residents receive $181 less per person for social services, and $246 less per person for health care services compared to the average Ontarian. The gap has widened most in developmental services and childrens services (childrens mental health). The Coalition made three rec- ommendations to the Ontario Government: 1. Immediately provide growth funding for health and social Continued on page 7