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. Ontario cut social assistance rats by 21.6%1n 1995 and hasno apparent intention of increasing them to account for inflation: . As pointed out in three consecutive repons from Ontario's Auditor, enforcement of family support orders has become a sick joke (recent mpons sum! that a sinular re-organization is In order for the welfare system, with a call centre wplacing Exe In face meet- mgs with use workers); I Onuno's minimum wage has been frozen for five years, In a country such as Canada - repeatedly recognlzrd as "the bet country In the world" - the exrstente of any Slgmlimnt level of child poverty (or adult poverty) Is scandalous Whal is even more oul- rageous are the actions that have been laken our lederal and provirt- cial governments m the pm decade to make the siluauon worst Unless there was some beak chm at the punters twherein "elirm mate" was accidentally printed x "esclale" ). both the federal gov- emmem and us pruv'maal counterparts have Called miserably m living up to this commitment, In fact, If they went mm to "create" child poverty. they could hardly have been more effective at dang so. The only altemative concluson ts that our elected officials 51m ply dont can about the unpaid of their whoa . BoLh the federal government and all provincial governmems except British Columbia and Quebec have cancelled affordable housmg supply programs, creating a massive housing and home- kssness crisis that will only get worse; . The Harris govemmem has el1minated rent control protection for vacant units and made it harder for tenartts to fight tent Increases, lack of mamlenance and unfair evictions, . Dspue repeated promises to allow welfare tecipients to "eam back the full amount of the cut in benefns", the Harrisitts have new killed the ability of welfare recipients to keep pan of their wages from pan-lime employment (every cent eamed is now deducted born social Mane: cheques, completely elimimsting what Hai likes to all "the inrerttive to work"); . large youps of Onlariam am even qualify for wellart. either because they amt jump thmugh all ofthe hoops that Harris hes put 1n place. because they are too young, or became they are m school (they must take out huge student loans to pry for food, shelter, child mm and clothing Mule in school); thw at the Lab! (lung: bi Bloadbenl dd db ladder of the NDP was lo lnmvduu- a "solution allmg for the ledcral govemmml to work “uh provtnces lo eliminate chlld poveny m tlus country, The two- luuun passed unanimously, mth members of all three paints then 1n the House of Commors voung m favour That was ten years ago -- November 23, 1989 - and, With a month left before 2000 amves, " um: for a progress upon. Lel's take a look at some of actions the federal and Ontario gov- emmerus have taken 51m: 1989 to tum Child poverty from a sen- ous problem Into a crisis: . Ottawa (under both Gmservatwe and ijem] governments) Ten years after Amman . The Chretien government abohshed the Canada Asustance Plan, further cutting back on mm fers and eliminating mles against {outed labour schemes such as the Harris govemment's workfase pm- . The Mulroney government capped transfer payments to so- called have provinces, severely lim- lung their ability to fund welfare, health and education programs; has drasucally waled back Unem- ployment insurance benefits and restricted eligibility to the point where fewer than a [had of unem- ployed Canadians now quahf) for the program', I N If, , E C, 3:}; s' v , ' _ " "lr/iii';', "“ cr, A If a w; ,iV ' . MT a , . " th" 'Ba tgil x 1""??? c',tsyriii.('iuei,t., - t Last week in tke Waterloo Chronicle, we asked readers what they felt about about the redevelopment plans for the Seagram lands and Waterloo Town Square. Here's what some of you Ind to say: To the uptown Waterloo retlleeelttimteItt nlun It's totally unsuited for Waterloo The First Gulf development IS totally unsuited for Waterloo. First, the city does not need a huge 2,50Wseat theatre as its focal point. Third, the' absenie of an indoor mall will force people to shop at Conestoga Mall during the winter months. Second, the use of parkades coupled with a major department store was tried trt Kitchener with disastrous results People do not like parking in parkades. Fodtth, there ate no landscape gardens to serve as a civic square. Finally, the whole idea of creating an inslam my in the hands of one desreloptr, is fundamentally wrong, Cities should With Special Cuests Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Children's Choir Ted Follows narrating Was the Night Before Christmas' and Gordon McLean (Co-host of Daytime) SATURDAY. NOV. 27, 1999 - 3:00 pm. Grandview Baptist Church, 119 Old Chicopee Dr.. Kitchener Students and mum F m . Hulda» 10 years and under ther; . Adults Sm m For ruins “all "I241“ " WRPY, Head new 200 Mark-(now Rd t ambmige N Roger“ able " ( .rand ( It", krtchener or am Band Member All ptr-ds to ‘Childnnl Will! Ftnotdatiott of Canada' Q Proud Npoosor I‘m Cmullily TV I t _ ri',8 ' The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letteis to the editbr. They should he signed with name. address and phone num~ ber and will be verified for aixuiacy No unsigned 1etfers will be published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief. Copyright in letters and other materials submitted to the publisher and accepted for publication tetnttihs, with the author, but the publisher and is licenses may freely reproduce them in print. electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. s., Suite 201, Waterloo, NWN, our e-mail whims ts wrhrmtickesentex.net, and our fax number is 8869383. V . I _ 7 - ‘ Do you think we need more police lil {E $31 Ei ' tl officers in Waterloo Region? I WATERLOO REGIONAL _ ' POLICE SERVICES BAND "IN CONCERT" Presents: A CHRISTMAS WISH "Yes, I work wuh them pan- ume and I know they're pulung In a lot of ovtmme and a lot of long shifts, especially on the weekend " “No I don't think we need more officers, I dont think we have enough crime to warrant II. It's a pretty safe community and I don't think we have a mmc problem," Regarding Warrlop, Iqwn Square, I fmd ' “we IS already too much mama on Albert A grocery store and a department store can't replace a mall evolve naturally over time. Sadly, Water- loo will resemble a battle ground for years lo Come, _ - . A The cinema complex is long overdue I am happy to read that a plan to rede, velop the Waterloo core had been approved and that the long overdue down- town cinema complex will soon be a real- ity. As a Waterloo homeowner I am looking forward to walking downtown for dinner and a movie and not having to drive to the other end of Kitchener or to Cambridge. Grant Wisnowski Letters policy Jeremy Martin museum . o o' CMmpnnov Paul Woolner EiEiEEiiriiriiiriiii2 99 Northfield Dr, E, Suite 302 (Near Conestoga Moll) - David Crow Make any shoe the best shoe for you with Thirdly, I dont know what movies they would show or what sort of crowd it would attract. Violence is common in movies today. These people who see these violent movies will come out (of the the- atre) at 11 pm, and I wonder what they will create My fourth point is that a grocery store and a department store cannot replace the mall, We have of little stores and good facilities to walk around to encourage local sales. Finally, there will be nowhere to hold the exhibitions so many of enjoy at the Waterloo Town Square. Secondly, the mall, if not replaced as such, will be a great loss, It is not an eye- sore but a necessity especially to the large number of seniors who live here, many of whom no longer drive, They not only need it for shopping, but also as a place to take exemse m Winter and to keep them- selves fat. Street, and I wonder what this cinema Is going to do to us. “I‘m guessmg If they're ask, mg for more officers, they probably need more officers " "Yes. I think they've had to cut out a lot of the minor Jobs like patrolling tramp They have Io concentrate on the major crimes and don't have enough ume lo mvesngaxe the minor ones." Marilyn Ropp Rene Hope Joan Venn