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THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2007 THE NEW TANNER 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It New bank RBC Royal Bank has filed a site plan application with the Town to build a branch in the Sobeys plaza in Acton East. The plan calls for a 465-square- metre freestanding building to be constructed on the north/west cor- ner of the plaza site, at the opposite end from McDonalds. Neighbours were notified of the application, filed earlier this month, but no public meeting is required, just site plan approval by the Town after it gathers comments and ques- tions from a number of agencies. Town staff said the site plan application does not indicate any timelines. At press time, RBC officials had not responded to requests for more information. Marzo moves Marzo Glove is relocating to different units at the recently sold building on Highway 7 at the Sev- enth Line, Nassagaweya, where it has been making gloves for 14 years. Marzo staffer Dianne Morri- son said the new owner, System Fencing of Rockwood, is turning Marzos old unit into a showroom, so Marzo moved last week into space in the same building that was vacated by ProPlastex Industries and Automated Devices. Systems Fencing also owns the S.E.R.G.E. conveyor system plant on the north side of Highway 7, at the Seventh Line. Song and sweets Simple homegrown music and homemade cherry pie will be fea- tured on Sunday at the Christian Reformed Churchs Sonrise gospel concert, that will also feature guest singer Victoria Stewart, 7. (The Sonrise gospel group is billed as eight men and a piano-playing lady.) All are welcome to the free event that begins at 6:30 p.m. Long distance bid The first bid in a Canadian Cancer Society batchelor auction in Acton is a woman from St. Johns, New- foundland who offered $105 to go on a date with Acton Councillor Clark to raise money for the Acton branch. Along with her bid, the Maritimer wrote she first saw the handsome Clark Somerville atop Signal Hill, (apparently during a municipal con- ference), and when she heard about the auction, she had to bid. Bids for the evening out hair at Blue Springs Spa, dinner at Tanners and tickets to the almost sold-out Acton Angels dance to raise money for breast cancer research can also be made for Acton bachelor John Eddolls, who gamely joined Somerville in the silent auction to raise money for a good cause. Bid sheets are available at Blue Springs Spa on Mill Street. Quilt deadline Blocks for a Celebration Quilt a fundraiser for the Homecraft Division and the Acton Agricultural Society/indoor soccer building in Prospect Park will be accepted until the end of the month. The completed blocks bought for $10 and $20 and then quilted and decorated by local individu- als, groups and churches will be pieced and tied in time for the opening of the new building this September. Deadline for the completed blocks to be turned in (to the Needle Gnome on Mill Street or 29 Bower St.) is by March 31. H.E.L.P. moves to Acton? H.E.L.P. Safety Services wants to convert a single-family residence at 89 Mill Street, between Elgin and Frederick Streets, into a business office. Brian and Debbie Power, who own a health and safety consulting business in Mississauga, want a Town rezoning to allow the conver- sion so they can relocate to Acton. The Powers agent said most of the companys work is done off- site, no physical changes would be made to the exterior of the build- ing, and more parking would be provided. No pot of gold in these rainbows It was fairly raining dollar bills last week as both the feds and then the province tabled their respective budgets. As an aside, dont you think the respective fi- nance ministers should be forced to dress up as either Santa or the Grinch for these media events. It wouldnt make the results easier to swallow but it would sure make the droning of the presentations easier to watch. But I digress. Kathleen Wynn, Provincial Education Minister in case that slipped your mind, fired the first salvo on Tues., March 20. In my opinion that was a poorly disguised attempt to upstage the federal government budget which was due to be announced later that same day. It failed mis- erably. Harper got the front page of the Toronto Star. Ms. Wynn was relegated to pg. B-7 of the same issue. Its not that Ms. Wynns an- nouncement concerned simply chump change. She committed another $781 million dollars to the Ontario education pot. I think this is new money. I say that because education dollars dont hang around that depart- ment long enough to become old money. The various boards, and their insatiable appetites for cash, were not satisfied. Annie Kidder of People for Education praised the new funding with a caveat. Not enough funds for English as a second language programs she says. Im not sure how that works. Canada takes in around 300,000 new immigrants every year. Lets assume 60% of those are children or 180,000. Lets further assume that 60% of those children come to Ontario. So assuming that, 108,000 immigrant children need education in ESL. Perhaps Im being flippant, but after listening to children on the street, I submit ESL should be mandatory for almost all of todays schoolchildren. Doesnt anyone teach English literature and Eng- lish grammar any more? The bottom line, as I see it, is that there isnt enough money in the vastness of space to satisfy our education system. Or for that matter our health care advocates, our social programs, non-profit housing, the military, etc. etc. The federal budget came mostly down to transfer payments. The simple analysis is that Quebec made out like a bandit, again, and Ontario is crying foul, again. Jean Charest was able to promise an ad- ditional $700 million to the already announced $250 million in tax cuts. That translates into approx. $ 750 in tax cuts for the average middle class household. Who says referendums dont pay? Countless articles have been written questioning why a federal conservative P.M. is so obviously supporting a Liberal provincial premier. Is Harper (gasp!) trying to interfere and influence the Quebec electorate? Of course he is. Just like countless former prime ministers have done through the years. When it comes to Quebec there is no end to the federal gov- ernments largess. As for Charest being a Liberal? Does everyone forget he was a conservative federal M.P. when that party was reduced to holding caucus meet- ings in a phone booth after the Brian Bulrooney/Kim Campbell debacle? Charest is about as Lib- eral as Ontarios Bill Daivs. There were the predictable environmental initiatives in the federal budget. The gas guzzlers tax delighted the tree hugger set as did the up to $2,000 tax credit for buying a gas sipper. Not supris- ingly, hybrid buyers may qualify for up to $2,000 in tax breaks. The rebate schedule for energy efficiency is rather confusing. The Toyota Prius which sniffs gas uses only 4.1 litres per 100km. That gets the Prius buyer a $2,000 tax break. On the other hand, a Jeep Patriot which fairly slurps 8.2 litres per 100km gets a $1,000 tax break. At the price range those ve- hicles are in I know which one I would rather drive. The little advertised problem that I see with the hybrid is the replace- ment cost of the battery, which supplies alternate power to the vehicle. Those puppies cost around $7,000 to replace. Its my under- standing they are not covered in the basic warranty. If a battery does fail how do buyers dispose of them? There are the typical nickels and dimes coming to the average household for child tax credits, public transportation, roads and the like. All aimed at convincing voters this is a kinder, gentler Stephen Harper (Steve to his buddy. God that was funny). Provincially, the big news, other than the almost $1 billion drop in the bucket referred to earlier for education, was the raise in the minimum wage to $10.25 by 2010. Unless they have a credit card dont expect any surge in spending by those under-employed people. You cant spend promises at the grocery store. The silly side is that the con- sultant hired to produce the report that economic doom and job losses would result from any dramatic increase in minimum wage did so in a mere six weeks. If he worked 40 hours a week on this analysis, and thats a big if, he was making $100/hour. Premier McGuinty observed From the March 30, 2006 pages of The New Tanner. One year ago, Congrats to Acton McDonalds owner Dave Beatty, one of a very select group of worldwide franchisees to be honoured with a Golden Arch Award for relentless focus on customer service, significant community involvement and exceptional achievements. Beatty, who began his career as a fry-boy at McDonalds 37 years ago, worked his way up through the ranks and bought his first franchise in 1992. In other news: The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 197 is allocated enough water for one single-family house, allowing it to sell a vacant building lot, created when the Legion retirement building on Birchway Place was built. From the March 28, 2002 pages of The New Tanner. Five years ago: Two Acton teams win OMHA championships. Carquest edged the Caledon Hawks 1-0 to take the Novice AE central championship, and Acton Atom ProPlastic Tanners took the Atom crown, downing Price Edward Country Kings 4-1. In other news: Seniors, people with special needs, and others can now call one number at TRANS INFO to find out what transportation services buses, trains, taxis, volunteer drivers and accessible vehicles are available to them. THE A TEAM: Ladies Appreciation Night at the Acton branch of the Royal Canadian Legion wouldnt be the same without the dinners cooked by the A team composed of left to right, Keith Andrews, Randall Cunard, John and Barry McNabb. The foursome served up a dinner for the ladies highlighted by fillet mignon and shrimp, served by the Branch executive. James Hayes photo Continued on page 8