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makes sense to discuss some concerns which one must have for the budget. Several people have asked me to write more about the debt andfll&u‘!vflh“lfih.hfim“ is At the end of the second world war, Canada had a debt which amounted to 117 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Since 1945, Canada has seen the debt decline to 13 percent of GDP intheeclylmuhu.wfl-fldld'htm, GDP grew rapidly. According hflhfidc-hlhâ€"fi Canada has only reduced the absolute level of its debt twice in 126 years since Confederation and that was for a few years after each of the world wars. It is acceptable to borrow money to make an investment which causes income to grow and thus gives you the possibility of paying the loan. Also, when it time to pay back the loan, one can do so out of income or out of Relling assets. Another possibility is to mortgage assets in order to funds. As recently as 1984, I published my text on government finance, only four per cent of the federal debt was owed outside the as well. However, in the last 10 years, the capital markets in Canada have not been able to supply the capital needed by governâ€" Debt and budgeting ments, so foreign capital has been sought and the consequence of that has been that we now have 25 per cent of the debt owed to forâ€" eigners. Iththn@vfitmflpm'fiouw&,mfim what we owe ourselves. In addition, since 1984, we have had only a few years of large productivity increases. Since 1990, GDP decreased and only reeentlyrem'mdtowhenitmhlm.lnothawudl,fln growth in income which would help us handle the debt has not come about. Growth has been stagnant in Canada because of the work economy and because Canadians have taken a very pesâ€" simistic view of spending on consumer activities, partly caused by the fact that we have had higher taxes which have drained our ability to consume â€" higher taxes caused by the deficit spending of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Canada also spends more than most countries on education and we do not get the results in higher Mflv&yâ€"mmmwmmwh thermore, we are very slow to adopt new technology and new and innovative methods of organizing production. The result has been â€" a very poor growth record. If Canada were to grow again, which can only be accomplished bymahngthemmyowabeawnfifivdymfindly. and skilled labor, we could handle the debt we have incurred, but there is some question about handling additional debt. However, without growth in the economy, we need to reexamine what the debt means to us. It suggests we are living beyond our means. Once we get growth in the economy, we can afford to pay down the debt but meanwhile, we must look at what the provincial govâ€" ernment‘s choices are. They can tax more but as I argued in my last column, we are already taxed too much. They can cut programs and this is where Bob Rae and his crew are really not doing their job. We could also sell off many different mwfiwflmhfiflwfibnhh mw.mmmcommm boqflnheufldbnubpifid-p'-bhwhpi- vate corporations providing the government with funds to get us out of debt without the loss of jobs. In the meantime, we must cut the deficit to zero. Floyd Laughâ€" ren will have the opportunity to show us whether he has new ideas or is still wedded to the economics of the 1960s. wmawqmamm lnotol.bt-vd‘qlhqrhomo ® An independently Owned and Operated Member Broker of Coldwell Banker Affiliates of Canada Inc. * PETER BENNINGER REALTY Ae o ines be c u5 <omnmeenatiee Jan Vamer, president of the Kitchener Waterloo Women in Networking. Strong foundation for _ _ women‘s networking group ‘The expression ‘Networking‘ has become a term of the 90s, but it‘s been around since the formation of the service clubs such as the Rotary or Lion‘s. ‘There are networking groups geared towards mens‘ But prior to 1983 there was no real local networking group just for women. . It was back in 1983 that business women Dale Wilcox and Bev Esposito found that their business careers were starting to take off and they wanted to bounce ideas off with other women on how how they sions. The first meeting involved 15 women, who were the seeds of the group. "For the next meeting those women each asked five women, who asked five more women and now we‘re up to about 140 members," said Jan Varner, president of the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Women in Networking. Next Thursday (May 27) the group will be celebratâ€" ing its 10th anniversary at the Valhalla Inn. The group meets on the last Thursday at the Valhalla from noon to 1 p.m. and a $25 yearly membership and $12 per lunch is all it takes. According to Varner, the networking group is open to any woman, from a housewife to a top executive. Networking is different things to different people. To some, says Varner, it‘s a place where women can and it puts people with needs in touch with those who and they‘re coming here to network with people who are in different careers, Then there are those who just "Some women may be looking at a career change d "i ;; E ;. qucr gennenit es â€"~ 375 Univ like to come out for lunch and say "This is great, I don‘t have to think about work. > 6 "People in one career don‘t know what the others are doing. The more information you have the better informed decisions you can make." > > Varner admits that with the current recession, netâ€" working has become a valuable tool of the trade. Talkâ€" ing to people within the group who are on the move allows the future employer to make a quick hiring decision on the information she acquired through netâ€" â€" "When the margins get tighter you want to know as muehinfmfion(lwwwmif you hire somebody you with it cuts down on the whole interviewing process." _ _ % It‘s a place where busin off each other discovering Amfingmmmhmwwput to these students to offer support and mentoring emragananbyupmhhmun younger age. f “We’retryingtomdnpmfibwmke theinifiafivea!fltalkhfln‘lm‘“bthanand to get to know then, whether they‘re in a career area that they‘re interested or not.‘ ~‘ > "One girl wanted to be a lawyer. E‘m not a lawyer, but I introduced her to one and arranged to have day job shadowing for her." â€"_ o According to Varner, the networking group has also hit the interest of university and college age women. "One‘s never too young to become interested in the world of networking" _ _ _ _« __. _ ‘ the group brought high school students amdi;'nm:)plymfic ';'lgh Silken Laumann : does and doesn‘t work