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WM “(I lit) CHRONICLE - Wednesday. latioary it $009 ' 3 P ° ' milli ° 1 a] ftw firm rovmce invests $29.6 on in oc so are Bv Gnu, MACDONMJ) “This type of technology can (hmllu‘lt‘ Surf] K... improve the efficiency of diag- * ‘ .- Mb noses.” he Waterloo branch of a liel- m: The money will go towards I gian highrlt't'h medical firm updating the infrastructure in the has received a $30vmillion Waterloo office as well as hiring grant from the provincial govern X“ “' new staff. . ment. " .. “This investment is a reflection Premier Dalton McGuinty , ' g: of the confidence we have in our announced the $29.6vntiliion ff technology and our products," grant, which will help Agfa llealth~ _ ’ Green said. (Iare develop digital medical i 3 . , it‘s also a reflection of the confi~ record software, at the company‘s ' _ t » gs: . fr; dence the company has in Water. Phillip Street offices on Monday. Q 1: . _ " of: ‘ J ' loo region. he added. Agfa is one of the province‘s " . , fl. “The environment in Waterloo leaders in radiology technology f ' has been very positive indeed." and got its stan in the X-ray field. Green said. adding that Agfa's The money will cotne frorn.the proximity to the city's two universi- province's Next Generation of lobs ties and other high-tech firms is an Fund and will create 100 new jobs. asset. McGuinty said. ‘ “it's not only the financial sup- lhat kind of investment is what a port. but also the ability to attract the province needs in the tough ‘ 3 the right quality and type of per- financial times, he added. sonnel.” “Building a stronger economy , . investments such as this one going forward is going to take \ will be important to Waterloo in innovation â€" it‘s going to take new _ ' the short term and the long term, \ ideas.” McGuinty said. a. - said Kitchener MPP lohn Milloy. ‘ The grant will go towards the “" who is also the Minister of Train- development software that will aid ing, Colleges and Universities in the digitization of medical “The No. 1 issue facing Ontari- records. Premier Dalton McGuinty, right. tours the Agfa HealthCare facility on Phillip Street with CEO Michael Green and ans is the state of the economy," Agfa will invest close to $200 Kitchener MPP John Milloy. he said. “Although Waterloo region million in the project, which will Wfimm continues to have good news sto- primarily be worked on in Water records and information such asX- The move will be a big one for from an analog environment to an ries wehave not been immune. loo, rays so it can be easily shared Agfa and will see it branching out IT environment.” said Michael “This kind of investment will The company's plan is to create between clinicians and doctors in from its traditional areas Green. Agfa's CEO of North Ameri- ensure the province is ready when software that will digitize medical hospitals. “This will help hospitals move can operations the storm is clear." ° a] il ' h f Region counc moreases taxes y 3. 1 5 per cent or 2009 BvBoaViuwwc million police budget, wage settle» ; an a; ,., _ et,” he said. “There was no tax wehave to have the staffing ratios ChmnicleStafi merits and cost associated with the a ' . ' ‘ . impact“ "if the caseload takes off in the expansion of Grand River Transit 1. .‘.__, f Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig. future we'll have to staff up like we egional taxes are going up by overthe last couple ofyears e ~ .- fl who called for a regional hiring didin thelast recession.‘ R315 per cent after council “Given all that we had to deal . ~ from before being rebuffed by the The region administers the ppmved a budget of close to with, i thought we did well to keep . z:: .' "3 3s». rest of council. said the money all Ontario Works program for the $1 billion last Wednesday. it at the three per cent range." said ‘ 722.1575 13 comes from thesametaxpayer. province and doesn't get the full Regional Chair Ken Selling Selling. adding the number is in '_$ (an . "A " “The staffing levels are my out cost forsuppiyingthoseprograms called it a status quo budget that line withthemunicipal priceindex. , f c “ ”1 ,~ >»‘t'â€"- of control," said Craig. “They hired That's why regional council will maintain service levels and Regional council also made a {t " a another 23.5 last night (Wednes- decided not to dip into a SID-mil- continue community supports in $25-miliion commitment to rapid ' ‘ .. -‘; day). lion reserve fund this year. Selling this time of economic uncenainty. transit. but Seiling said that came ' ”We're not hiring any new peo- said we're just at the beginning of The increase amounted to 1.88 out of the capital budget and sig- ‘ pie in the City of Cambridge the downtum in the economy and per cent for regional services and nailed the Region of Waterloo's - E} because of what's going on. Their the money in that emergency fund 1.27 per cent for police services. commitment to the program in increase could have been consider- might be needed for tougier days The impact on the average house- time for the upcoming federal Ken Selling ably lower than three per cent. they ahead. hold is an annual increase of $43.38 budget WM] CM” just haven't done it.“ But Craig argued it should be for a single-family home assessed if Ottawa comes up with major project.“ saidSeillng. Selling said that doesn't recog- used now. “Over the next number at $203,000. infrastructure funding for projects. Selling said there was about $3.5 nize that the region's responsibili- of years we're getting $34 million â€" “There was a lot of work that like federal politicians have been million in internal budget cutting ties continue to grow and that that fund can bereplenished at any went into it." said Seiling, after signalling for the past few weeks. to get the budget down from about some ofthose services are mandat- time.” he said. coming in with the area’s lowest Seiling said the region wanted to four per cent to the number they ed bytheprovince. Seiling disagreed. “Some wanted property tax increase so far. “it‘s ensure itgets its share. settled on. And while the region “We have target response times us to use reserves to bring it down. pretty much a stand pat budget. in "This was a commitment in added the equivalent of 23.5 full- in ambulance services, public but ifyou use the reserve you have fact. there are no real additions in principle because we needed to time positions to their staffing lev- health is governed by provincial to find double the money next this year‘s budget at all," make a clear indication to the fed- els. only 2.5 of those positions came regulations and guidelines in terms year," he said. Some of the factors that went era] and provincial governments oulofthetaxbudget. saidSeiling of the services we provide and “That emergency fund is for into the regional increase include a that if they wanted to fund us we “The rest either came from the social services are under pressure." increased caseloads and you can't six per cent increase in the $108- had to show we’re serious about the cuts or had no impact on the budg- said Selling "As caseloads increase spend it twice" <5;ka W . "“‘"”””"”"““" . antenna SYREETN.. WATERLOO l 519.886.2090 l anus“ can