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A4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday April 26, 2000 E A R T H D A Y G T S B w a n ts to fu n d By Cynthia Gam ble SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The Greater Toronto Services Board (GTSB) has released a blueprint for road and transit improvements for the next 20 years and is now calling on the provincial and federal govern ments to help pay the billion dol lar costs. "We're talking literally bil lions of dollars," said Chris Burke, GTSB representative, who arrived 45 minutes late (due to traffic) at a public meeting, attended by less than a dozen people, at die Halton Hills Civic Centre, Thursday night. "There is no way municipalities can do this on their own. This is an issue of provincial and national propor tions that we absolutely have to get those governments involved in helping to fund the investments we need to make on transporta tion in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)." The GTA, which is home to almost half of Ontario's popula tion, generates one-fifth of the Gross National Product and 50% of the Gross Provincial Product. Traffic congestion is estimated to be already costing businesses $2 billion a year mainly due to delays in truck deliveries. And even though GO Transit carries 38 million passengers a year, it still cannot meet the current demand for service-- expected to double in 20 years. In fact, it's expected more than two million people-- and 1.7 million jobs-- will be added to the GTA over the next 20 years. The result on the roads: grid lock. And yet, the federal and provincial govemements spend little on road improvements in the GTA, he said. The GTA, Burke points out, is the only major city/region in the industrial world which does not get provincial or federal funding for transit costs-- it's funded entirely from the prop erty tax base. "That's nuts," he said. According to Ho Wong, Halton Region's director of Long Range Planning & Transportation Services, the provincial and fed eral governments earn about $2 billion a year from GTA vehiclerelated fees and taxes-- $911 million/year for provincial gas tax; $830 million/year for federal P r o v in c e & O t t a w a E F F O R T : Jacquelyn Schlatman does her bit at Lions Valley Park Saturday during Earth Day clean-up activities. For those who missed it, you have another chance to clean up 15 areas o f town on S a t April 29th. That effort runs from 9 a.m.-noon. For more details, call The Oakville Com m unity Centre For Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, 849-5501, visit their offices at 148 Kerr St. or check out the web site at www.web.net/~act/occpehr/e arthday.htm Photo by Peter C. McCusker h ig h w a y r e n e w a l gas tax and $206 million/year for vehicle and driver fees. The federal government, he said, does not re-in vest any of this gas tax money on GTA roads while the province invests less than 20% of the money it col lects-- at the same time they're downloading financial responsi bility of roads (like Hwy. 5 and 25) to the municipalities. Wong pointed out these two roads are in dire need of repairs over the next 10 years -- costing Halton Region about $111 million. Wong said the provincial and federal governments need to re invest at least 80% of these rev enues to help solve the GTA problem. According to Wong, the GTA must double its current funding to $1.3 billion/year -- just to meet the future needs and Halton Region must spend more than $700 million on its road infra structure over the next 20 years. While Wong said most of the money will come from develop ment charges, the rest may have to come from the property tax base-- unless the other two gov ernments chip in. The draft report, Removing Roadblocks, will show the feder al and provincial governments there is a specific long-term strategic transportation plan for the GTA-Hamilton-Wentworth area. "It tells them here's what they need to spend the money on and why it's in their best interests to do so," Burke said. The approach, he explained, is an attempt to turn it from "do something for us (the municipalities), to "do something for your constituents too." The plan puts a greater emphasis on improving bus and train services. The plan also calls for the co-ordination of all transit among the 17 operators (fares, transfers and routes). `T he ultimate goal of co-ordi nated transit is to create a system that is as easy and convenient as automobile travel," the plan stat ed. Other plan components include such things as priority lanes, better road information, new interchanges, road tolling, ridesharing programs and protec tion now in Official Plan future transit or road corridors. The municipalities, however, are not going alone on their lobby efforts. Along with these public information meetings throughout the GTA, they are enlisting the support of the chambers of com merce and large corporations to lobby their MPs and MPPs. The transportation plan will be presented to the GTSB for approval in June. The public can submit written comments on the draft plan until May 15TH. For a copy of the report, it can be downloaded from the GTSB Web site at www.gtsb.on.ca or call Lynn Johns at Halton Region, 878-8113 or 853-0501, ext, 7933. T /tC INVIDIATA I TEAM atoutouhR C xn' /j/x r fe M IL L E N N IU M 2 0 0 0 tfAACA 1OK KMN The Invidiata Team I RE present REALTY CORP., REALTOR TheA/fllem'm- 2 0 0 0 SATURDAY MAY 6,2000 | I OK Run 5K Family Walk IK Challenge for under 12's and Special Olympians 9:00am start time 9:00am start time 10.20am start time lO k lh w H o M te I 10KRW R egistration form s are a vailab le at theYMCA of O akville, The R u n n in gC om pany (118Thom as St,Oakville) an d the The In vid iataT eamoffice (83 R eyn o ld s St, O akville). R un n ers an dw alkers c a n obtain p le d g e s .P led g e inform ation iscontained inthe R u nB ro ch u re. Great prizes for those who obtain the m ost p le d g e s .R efresh m en ts, entertainm ent an dp rizes. L u n c ha vailab le at m inim al cost F R E EC hild Care provided byYMCA C hild Care stafffor ch ild ren of p articip an ts. //r o /r e o f f / r e AA ///etr/r/u**f & ///? a r t/c //? a t//r g r u /r & o f t / r e y e a r * 2 0 0 0 / 0 TMH maternity wing holding May 7th open house The Maternal Child Program at the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) site of Halton Healthcare Services is welcoming one and all to their Annual Spring Open House on Sun., May 7th, from 1 to 4 p.m. Anyone interested in learning more about paediatrics and obstet rics is encouraged to take this opportunity to enjoy an insider's peak at our program. There will be guided tours of the Prenatal Clinic, the Birthing Suite, the Maternal Child Unit, the Special Care Nursery, the Breastfeeding Clinic and the Registration/Admitting Area. Nurses, physicians, midwives, doulas (labour support persons), and com munity representatives will be available to answer questions and address any curiosities you may have. Tours will occur throughout the day, so there's no need to register. Moms, dads, children, grandparents... everyone is invited to this special event. Light refreshments will be served. Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital is located at 327 Reynolds Street, free parking available in the maternity parking lot off MacDonald Street and in the main parking lot off Reynolds. Sponsors Brooks,The Oakville Beaver Alternatives Market, Fantasy Fruit Market, Oakville Shiatsu & Massage Therapy Centre Oxford Wealth Management, Pure Water, Sharkey's Dockside Cafe Sid's Trophies, SmithKline Beecham.The Great Canadian Bagel Company The Running Company,The Second Cup,Tina's Granola Bars Just An Olde Fashion Butchery YM C A of OAKVILLE 4 10 R ebecca S tre e t, Oakville, ON L6K IK7 · Phone: 845-3417 www.ym caofoakville.com THE OAKVILL ENNISCLARE INTERIORS A T r a d i t i o n of E l e g a n c e S p r in g S a le I Q D M M O W IS ON NOW B e a u tifu l w o rk s o f a rt h a n d c ra fte d iro n b e d s th a t w ill e n d u re g e n e ra tio n s . W id e s e le c tio n o f s ty le s a n d fin is h e s . A v a ila b le in Tw in to K in g s iz e s . Queen size Corinthian bed. Reg. price, $3499. a le S T O R E * WIDE $2 5 9 9 115 T r a f a l g a r Rd. ( n o r t h of L a k e s h o r e ) P h : A Queen size M ontana bed. Reg. price, $1789. ( 9 0 5 ) 8 4 2 - 7 1 0 7 M ontana day bed Reg. p rice, $1719. sSfi,, * 1 3 3 9 Y E A R -R O U N D H O M E F O R S A L E C R Y S T A L B E A C H /B A Y B E A C H , O N T A R IO -y, . * 1 2 8 9 T he p e r fe c t g ift th a t's a lw a y s w e lc o m e ENNISCLARE INTERIORS 1075 NORTH SERVICE RD. WEST, OAKVILLE. Tel: (905) 825-2450 STORE HOURS: Mon., Tues., Wed. & Sat.10:00 am to 5:30 pm Thurs. & Fri. 10:00 am to 9:00 pm. Sun. Noon to 5:00 pm Sale prices are in effect until June 4, 2000. a d 0417- a O n e o f th e a re a 's e x c e p tio n a l h o m e s . B e a u tifu lly la n d s c a p e d larg e c o rn e r lo t (d o u b le ). 3 -b e d r o o m c e d a r b u n g a lo w ( 1 4 3 2 s q . ft .) w ith s e p a ra te g a r a g e /a p a rtm e n t. H u g e b rig h t 6 - b a y s k y -lig h t s u n ro o m fa c in g s o u th w ith fu ll w ra p a ro u n d c e d ar, m u lti-le v e l d e c k . S u n ro o m h as o rig in a l n o s ta lg ic C ry s ta l B ea ch B a llro o m flo o r re s to re d to its p ris tin e b e a u ty . IR R E P L A C E A B L E : G ro u n d s a n d h o m e a re in s u p e rb con ditio n. O th er unique fe a tu re s w h ich m u s t be seen to be ap p rec iated . P r ic e : $ 1 3 9 , 0 0 0 . includes 2 stoves, 2 refrigerators, w asher and dryer. FOR IN FO R M A TIO N : phone 9 0 5 - 8 9 4 - 3 1 7 9 OTHER FEATURES H om e is in a year-roun d co m m u n ity but 5 -m in u te w alk to beautiful public beach, Lennox high-efficiency fu rnace, new kitchen w ith pull-out draw ers/cupboards, garage door opener. All ro om s have 7 large Andersen w indow s. S un ro o m (Lindal cedar) has heat-m irro r glass fo r highest efficiency.