F rid ay O c to b er 27, 2 0 0 0 L-lVA?fi Li.]IV>A03HT THE OAKVILLE BEAVER M a n n in g J e w e l l e r s GOLDSMITH * DIAMOND MERCHANT -------------------------------- ^ --------------------------------- · Finest Quality · Reliable Service for 20 Years 125 CROSS AVE. · TRAFALGAR VILLAGE · 144-2568 Business Skilled trades in spotlight Firms honoured for supporting trades The Halton Apprenticeship Advisory Council (HAAC) will recognize six Halton companies demonstrating leader ship in the support of skilled trades at its Wed. Jan. 17th annual meeting. The HAAC was organized in 1998 by the Halton Industry Education Council (HIEC) to meet the exploding demand for skilled tradespeople in Halton. Each company will be honoured with a plaque commem orating its support of skilled trades and be named in an hon our roll displayed at both Halton school boards, HIEC offices, Halton Region, Sheridan College and Mohawk College. The Council is composed of 24 organizations represent ing business, education, government and labour working together on this problem. The HAAC is the first of its kind in Ontario. Nominations for these awards are now being accepted and information on how any Halton company can become involved in the program may be obtained by calling the HIEC at 634-2575. Photo by Christine Smyth The exercise machines were quiet Sunday night when Maria and Dirk Kinlough held the official opening o f The Body Shaping Fitness Studio for Women. The 10,000 sq. f t state-ofthe-art facility on Lakeshore Road (adjacent to Loblaws) offers a variety of fitness classes plus pilates, yoga and body ball. The facility also offers a unique Fashion Shaping program and a special area to enjoy health shakes, salads, wraps and herbal teas. Other amenities include a hot tub, sauna and private showers. FITNESS CENTRE OPENS: ZEN 0N cleaning York Region water ZENON Environmental Inc. will supply The Regional Municipality of York (York Region), with a drinking water membrane filtration system. York Region Council approved the selection of ZENON and its membrane technology for the Georgina Water Supply Facility in Georgina County, on the shores of Lake Simcoe. The contract is valued in excess of $5 million. The Georgina facility will be the 14th ZENON drinking water plant installation in Ontario. Along with the five wastewater plants ZENON has installed throughout the province, there are a total of 19 ZENON membrane filtration plants in operation or under construction across Ontario. Under the contract, York Region will close its existing conventional water treatment facility in the Town of Georgina and replace it with a ZENON system. The new facility will be built between the Georgina communities of Sutton and Keswick. Factors considered in the Region's choice of ZENON's proven technology include its expandability, cost-effective ness and smaller footprint (requires less physical space). The system can remove water-borne parasites, like Cryptosporidium or Giardia contamination, which chlorine alone can't kill. Accountants like Liberal mini-budget T he Canadian Institute o f C hartered A ccountants (C IC A ) expressed enthusiastic support for the federal governm ent's fiscal strat egy as outlined in its Oct. 18th m ini budget, w hich supplem ents the 2000 federal budget. "W e are p leased to see that Finance M inister Paul M artin has m ade a com m itm ent to more aggres sive debt reduction and accelerated cuts to personal incom e taxes," said CICA vice-chair Pierre B runet, OC, FCA. "By elim inating the 5% surtax, red u cin g incom e tax rates, and increasing the threshold at w hich the top tax rate applies, all Canadian taxpayers will benefit. The move to a low er capital gains inclusion rate is also a step in the right direction to im proving C an ad a's co m petitive ness," Brunet added. T he governm ent's decision to allocate $10 billion to debt reduction in the cu rrent fiscal year has received w hole-hearted backing from C an ad a's C hartered A ccountants. By com m itting a full $10 billion to debt reduction this year, C anada's debt to GDP ratio will fall to 54.3%, down from 59.4% in the previous year. "W e're im pressed by the govern m ent's plan to respond to both the short- and long-term needs o f Canadians. From a long-term stand point, or top o f allocating $ 10 billion to debt reduction, the governm ent is cutting personal income taxes by far more than expected and, in a way, that benefits m iddle-incom e Canadian fam ilies -- those m ost in need o f tax relief. 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