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The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by the Fairway Group, owned by TDNG Inc., a subsidiary of Torstar Corp. 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 editorial@waterloochronicle.ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterloochronicle.ca WATERLOOCHRONICLE The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. Letters Policy The Waterioo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor They should be signed with name. address and phone number and will be verified for accuracy. No unsigned letters will be published Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief Copyright in letters and other mate rials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freety repro duce them in print. electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S., Suite 201. Waterioo N2J 1P2, our eâ€"mail address is editorial@waterloochronicle ca. and our fax number is 8B6â€"9383 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Deb Duffield Gerry Mattice Circulation Retail Sales Manager, Manager, Ext. 225 Ext. 230 International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 Reporter, Ext. 227 Circulation Deborah Crandall Bob Vrbanac Editor, Ext. 215 _ Sports, Ext. 229 Sajes, Ext. 223 Sales, Bxt. 222 Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number Andrea l_lnltyk lun!-n Vplignm'g Norma Cyca Fabienne Viemmix Lamn Bartol Manager Sales, 623â€"6617 Audited circulation: 27,538 Dwayne Weidendorf Associate Publisher/ Group Seles Director 40050478 Laurie Ridgway Like many other residents in the city, I too was incensed by the alleged misâ€"management of our tax dollars by staff members and endorsed by our mayors and councillors, who all pointed the finger at MFP and their representative Brian Robâ€" son. I decided to check all of this, in an effort to determine where the flaw was in our systems and procedures that allowed this to happen. Here are my conclusions: MFP is a private sector company and has to operate their accounting practices in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and their proposals for financing ‘public funded organizations‘ are submitted on this basis. The City of Waterloo uses a totally different accounting practice for calculating and presenting their financial figures as set out under some Municipal Act. I suggest that Mr. John Ford, having been trained in the Municipal Act system, set out to ‘convert‘ the MFP GAAP numbers into his system and, on the basis of his ‘honest attempt‘ to reflect a true picture of the Millennium Financing Project (MFP), concluded an interest rate of only 4.9 per cent. Based on this, his superior, Mr. Tom Stockie, presented their figures to council and, without any complaints from our elected officials, as they had tess credentials than their staff members to even question the figures, gave it their approval. The financing from MFP was how much the city would have to pay (per day, month) over a 30â€"year term for the amount they needed to borrow; this was somewhat revised to accommodate the ‘lack of revenue‘ during the start up time period, based on, I believe, KPMG revenue forecasts. Don‘t you find it interesting that all the organizations suing MFP are all publicly funded; have they found a flaw in our systems? _ Having visited this wonderful facility, it is obviâ€" ously underâ€"utilized and perhaps over manned. An informal, and definitely nonâ€"scientific, poll of peoâ€" ple at Waterloo Town Square and King Street indiâ€" cated that none of the respondents have ever been there, but they hear it is a wonderful place; the only reason they don‘t go is they have no means of transportation. Based on this, I drovié«from the main entrance at RIM Park, stopped at Grey Silo, then proceeded in my car, obeying all road signs and driving below the speed limit, back to Waterloo Town Square; a distance of 11 kilometres that took 16 minutes and 30 seconds. My route took me on Woolwich Street to University Avenue, turned left on Bridge Street down to Lancaster where I then went west on Bridgeport Road to Caroline Street, then Erb Street and into Waterloo Town Square. In theâ€"teport (R&L2003â€"23) by Brian Detzler of recreation and leisure services, the action plan for RIM Park consists of two solutions; reduce expenâ€" ditures and go forward! Many of his suggestions are items that should have been done long before the city committed to the projectâ€"now we have a lemon. Let‘s now make it into the bestfemonade in the region. It‘s time to sweep up The other hand says that we don‘t want or need more people because they demand more water and produce more garbage and sewage. Will the two hands ever meet? The people won‘t stop coming. There is lots of useless land suitable for housing. The rivers and creeks can be regenerated by an additional water supply. The garbage can be sorted and incinerated. The sewage can be further composted. More through streets and a grid design would reduce gridlock. Let‘s make lemonade The right hand doesn‘t know what the left hand is doing. The one hand is opening industrial land and looking for more land. It is approving new subdiviâ€" sions in all the cute satellite villages and towns. A few "new brooms" should be hired THE CHRONICLE | M. Carl Kaufman, VIEWPOINT Jim McArdle, The task force on the new library figures it may be doomed by the deficit over RIM Park, and most of us folks who can add and subtract figure about the same. A buck used one way can‘t be used another, so it‘s going to beâ€"a setback on the city‘s overâ€"all finances. â€" But hark! Bob Mavin, the city‘s chief financial officer, offers a breath of hope. Quoth he: If the library is going to be worked into the 2004â€"2006 time frame, it‘ll have to be accommodated. Oh? While library lovers may appreciate the hint of hope, that could sound like some more of the accounting hankyâ€"panky that got the metropolis in a mess in the first place. And,~alas, there comes a time when a city, as well as the individual, must choose between tightening the belt or losing the pants. _ _ _ __ Major Margin: Well, they‘ve come up with a new federal poll and the result is still the same: The Libâ€" erals will win by a couple of city â€" IM@&NI | blocks. That‘s despite what Jean Chretien has been doing and saying these last few months. It hasn‘t made a difference to vofâ€" ers except in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It could be that mentally Canadians have elected Paul Martin dnd are looking forward to his taking over. And it‘d be more evident today because John Manley has dropped from the race since the poll was taken. Judging by the poll results, the rival parâ€" ties are going nowhere. So there‘s going to be another interval of Liberal rule, which apparently most Canadians seem to conâ€" ceive as the natural order of things. _ What Hot Time? Remember when the guessâ€"perts told us this was going to be a hot, hot summer? They must have idled too But, he adds, "though we may have to make some adjustments to the time frame." Sheila Copps wasn‘t figured to be big competition and with her still in the race, it seems to be only a formality. The expectations are high, but they aren‘t the same for rival leaders. Judging by the results of the poll, they aren‘t going anyâ€" where. Of course, any candidate will tell you that this country needs him or her. And many of them figure they‘re farâ€"sighted when they‘re just poor judges of distance. Tighten the belt or lose the pants â€" Tehâ€" F. C3 ¢ 5) A [3 lA e i5 4 Ti | i’z‘ cez | V3 . is :f “‘;“ A vy C l Y . ® â€" ; k Some of the mornings have been downâ€" right cool, and if you want a test for the temâ€" perature, consider this: A full 63 per cent of senior males are still weighing whether to shed their long johns. And ponder this, too: It was only a couple of weeks ago that they took off their mitts. They had, as a matter of fact, just taken the snow tires off their cars the week before. long under a sun lamp somewhere. Now I haven‘t been clocking the temperâ€" ature every day, but I‘ll wager that this sumâ€" mer hasn‘t been one of the steamiest, not by a damp chalk. Anyhow, a number of citizensâ€"maybe a majorityâ€"is unimpressed by this summer as summer. As for me, I just love sunshine. I cBuld sit in the sun day and night. By the way, light from the sun travels at a speed of 186,000 miles a second. But that‘s not remarkable. After all, it‘s downhill all the "The Tinsel Years: Most mornings I have coffee with folks of the senior persuasion, some in couples, some not. Mostly we seniors lead the good life and, contrary to what a few of us think, not much in Canada has gone downhill. A lot of govâ€" ernment programs are worthwhile, and they‘re not handouts to the unworthy. You have to feel sorry for folks who think otherâ€" wise. They must live a shallow life. Ah yes, the narrower the mind the broader the statement. There are some people so narrowâ€"mind ed they have to stack their prejudices verti NC None of us mentioned that DY most of what she said was hogâ€" D wash. She, like the rest of us, is living the life of Mrs. Reilly as a senior citizen. Gosh, generally speaking, we have a fatâ€" ter life than our parents and grandparents. It‘s better on our pocketbooks and much better on health care. Just see how many of us go to Florida in the winter, and to the specialist when we feel grubby. Natch, they are prey to the maladies that come with age, but they accept them with equanimity, even with chuckles. They are basically a wellâ€"adjustâ€" ed lot. That‘s why it struck me as strange the other day when one woman, in discussing changing times, unleashed a diatribe that covered immigrants, the welfare system, the health coverage and so on.