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nature... that it‘s going to somehow detour the quality of life or property value... 1 Continued from page 6 Waliter Bean trail access set to improve "At these types of {events}, you have 10 minâ€" utes to say your peace then Swatridge said it was hard to judge the MPPs® reaction. "That‘s the paradox," he said. "They‘ve created this new ministry but it‘s had no positive impact on our situâ€" ation. What‘s worse, Swatridge said, is that the centre had highâ€"hopes in 2003 when the newly elected Liberal govâ€" ernment established a new Ministry for Children and Youth Services. "The situation is getting worse with everâ€"increasing wait times and frozen budâ€" gets," Swatridge said. The centre‘s current wait list sits at 1,181 names, which has grown from 1,046 names at this time last year. dren in many parts of Ontario. Continued from page 1 Province could do more, says local MPP P would find offensive,." Bol ger said. Robertson said the situaâ€" tion comes down to making the trail system accessible to "You have to remember it‘s just two years old," he said. Milloy also defended the new Ministry for Children and Youth Services, claiming its work is ongoing and that it will take some time for it to reach its full power. "The list is so long," he said. "And people have to remember that we walked into an unexpected deficit of $6 million. Our immediate concern was making sure there was enough (funding) for health care and educaâ€" tion, which are two very big arcas." But Milloy also pointed out that KidsAbility received a three per cent funding increase from the province in 2004, and that his governâ€" ment has a long list of its own to contend with in the form of funding requests. "I‘ve been working since I was elected to identify more resources for them, and I‘ll continue fighting at Queen‘s Park for more resources." "They made an excellent presentation, outlining the pressures on childâ€"care cenâ€" tres across the province," he But Kitchener Liberal MPP John Milloy assured the KidsAbility presentation didn‘t fall on deaf ears. they‘re on to the next pre sentation," he said. Th at summationâ€" didn‘t everybody by providing ddeâ€" quate places to park. "What we‘re talking about is the right of the people of Waterâ€" loo to access the trail." "We expect to see signifiâ€" cant financial progress in this next budget," he said. Milloy said he too would Swatridge plans to repeat his message over and over until the provincial budget is decided this April. "It‘s been proven that the most important ages for a child‘s development are zero to six," Swatridge said, referâ€" ring to a study conducted by McCain and Mustard in 1999. "If we‘re not able to get to children with special needs in this age group, they‘re going to have big problems down the road." _ Swatridge explained that with each passing day a disâ€" abled child goes.without therapy, the tougher it will be for that child laterin life. "The province needs to give these children‘s centres stable funding, which would mean less than $20 million in annual operating funds, and an ongoing level of lastâ€" ing funding from there." "There‘s obviously not been an appropriate allocaâ€" tion of funds to respond to the children‘s needs. "They‘ve (Liberal governâ€" ment) had ample time. If the commitment was there, more could have been achieved by now," Witmer said. sit well with Waterloo‘s Conâ€" servative MPP, Elizabeth Witmer. "But the dose of realism in this is that nothing is guarâ€" anteed." "We have an obvious desire to help and keep working on this," he said. like to see more help for the local centre. mss BIG es WATERLOO CHRONICLE FRAME IT NOW! 4Ad In Art & Framing 5. * PHOTOS +« + OILS + + MEMORIES â€" * NEEDLEWORK + + PRINTS â€" (We Frame Anything Except The Customer) * NEW LOCATION: * Framed Pictures Dearborn Plaza * Home Decor 105 Lexington Rd. * Bradford Exchange Waterioo & More (formerty Belmont Village} TAAâ€"ARAA w Exproislons In Art & Framincs °5 744â€"4544