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w", ."‘°°..“.."'."’:“‘.““:‘1”.'2‘&."‘i": F IOII. VINE- N 0 ° b (1 will be 1 ' ' ext ntarlo u get c osely watched i . wo weeks ago i wrote about the con- our chamber has designated as a priority ultimate: matter. I I tents of the 2013 federg] budget for the I”! few years, ll I local W Ab. British Columbia and Alberta have ' hm‘~‘~~’~‘~ I I delivered on March 21, Within the given media report: last week that the cut tirelrramsto to percent, leadingto fur- ] L”. 0"." Oil Spraying I next few weeks, the newly appointed Waterloo Regional Police Service ended ther questions ofOntarlo’t competitiveness I ”fig-mum“ I Ontario Finance Minister, Wilfrid unmet 2012 with a $1.8 million deficit. For a number of reasons. the 2013 imminmw 1. Mar University alumni Charles Sousa, will deliv- The shortfall was in large part the result Ontario budget is highly anticipated and l . , I er the newfiscai plan for the province. of $1.7 million in unanticipated labour could lead to some major changes in one | , _, ’ ‘ | : Traditionally, the Ontario costs. which Mun-ted from an way oranother at Queen's Park. This should I ll l3 5‘3 I). it I U H I I budget is tabled a few weeks arbitration ruling last year that be extraordinarily interesting and impor- after the federal document, provided a 2.7 per cent wage tan! forbusiness lntheregiort I . . ' I allowing Queen's Park time to “m b rdhlsherd glinhthepzlrer I I review Ottawa’s numbers and scent u gete y t e 0 cc ~- “~- make any adjustments. Board. I wiltilg'n ' ' As most political analysts We should not forget deficits [an McLean 13mean CEO of!!! I W00!!! ' have speculated, the 2013 ‘ cannot be eliminated by MK-WawnberofCommeme 5 - I- â€" - I- - â€" â€" .- â€" â€" -l budget is particularly signifl- . increasing taxes, either busi- cant â€" and threatening â€" for 3;; neasorpersonal. l the governing Liberal Party. r .r 34% Ontario businesses compete @ gm Any major flaws or political 43$, its in “$le competitive 8‘01”] mmanumm miscalculations could defeat I markets and corporate taxes i the current minority sdminis- that are not in line with our [ration and require a spring WWWJWWDN lead election. The stakes are to loetmtkfem jobs extremely high as budget day and su revenue mm“ Wmmwmtci’m it THE ALL NEW 2013 BENCHMARK on; N . Most stakeholders across Ontario have a n . ormer in ster o inance - ' _ long list of programs and initiatives they W Duncan impletnmted I schedule of E CHMARKS wmndliketoseeinduded, cutsthatmuldhaveaeenthegenenlcor- , Many, including our chamber, are urging pomte income tax rate reduced to 11 per 1%, w or: l fiscal restraint and serious efforts to elimi~ cent in20l2 and 10 percent inZOl3. v c" ‘ " 1 nate the escalating deficit while making However, the 2012 budget tabled last '_ . . .2 strategic and focused investments spring cancelled both of these reductions, ., . fl 1 A recent survey conducted by the maintaining the rate at 11.5 per cent. which ' ’ . Ontario Chamber of Commerce indicated became 6560!“? in 201 l. t 76 per cent of Ontario businesses believe As an indication that the province of ' reducing the size of government should be Ontario is open to business, the corporate '; ‘ ‘ ., a top priority. income tax cut scheduled for 2013 should rig, \ l The OCC notes that labour costs account be implemented. k 7%; . w for more than half of provincial program lack Mintz. Chair of the School ofPublic “in“... j “ t 3. ta; ' spending if savings across government are Policy at the Univemity 0‘ Calm and one i. ' ‘ ‘ ' ‘ ' We, to be realized, reductions in labour costs ofCanada’s foremostanalystsofthe nation's ! . '5. , -- _ i. t: ” .5 ‘ a - must be central to the strategy. tax system, has noted that Ontario's deci- “I? ~" ’ " 12:. . . Wage and hiring freezes are the neces- sion to cancel 0071301319 income tax MIK- " ’ I saryfirst step. A secondand equally impor- tions could be considered an actual : tam measure are changes to the arbitration increase for many businesses who were system to better reflect a municipality’s anticipating 10 per cent in 2013. And we - 1, 3 ability to pay for services must remember our region competes in the Reform of the arbitration system, which $10!)“ economy. 50 these signals m clerics -_-. - , . ~ 2 Lazaridis wins ICF visionary award .,.__,_ The intelligent CommU< ing the world's first choice as one of the world's greatest A " . nity Forum narged BiackBer- for access to the broadband universities for software and ry ounder an vice-chair- economy â€"and in rec i- engmee' rin . - man Mike Lazaridis the tion ofa lifetime of inm- "Howevger, it is his devoâ€" CTMMN“ 2£Rth7oem intelligent Community tive contribution to his oom- tion to doing well and giving us ' ' h‘kâ€"‘w Visionary of the Year for munity of Waterloo. lCF’s back that is most inspiring. 9......â€" m“ v.1 2013. 2007 intelligent Community His home city of Waterloo is RX :5 000- £513- 1 gap The Intelligent Commu- oftheYear. not a major metropolis in €500, ‘567‘ . nity Visionary of the Year Discussing the selection terms of population. but menu: ,0. . x232»... award is presented to an of Midis. [CF co-founder Mike's vision continues to $21 09%" individual or an organization Lou Zacharilla said: “Mike is make it a major influence on mm“ ' I that has taken a leadership perhaps the only person i the world's scientific and .m‘“"w"”~mm§r__fi;firwm 7 role in promoting broad- can think of who combines technological future. as well "Sewn-um i band technology and appli- in one lifetime the entire as generating prosperity and . cations as an essential and ’triple helix’ that we find so rich social capital at a local ‘ transformative utility in the compelling among lntelli- level.” " . LDC.- digtal age. gent Communities in response to the award M m o iCF selected lamridis as “His historic entrepre- lamridis said: “As Albert Pin- the creator of the technology neurial success launched a stein once said. 'There are ‘ ‘ that made secure real-time revolution that has trans- only two ways to live your push-email communicaâ€" formed human interaction life. One is as though nothing lions possible on wireless with communications and is a miracle. The other is as "”9“. “X03 devices for tl‘: first time â€" in information. His multiple though everything '3 a mlra- 3m """ 9"” “"i "“""‘"5'°’ 7‘3"“. breakthrou that opened involvement: with the Uni- cle.’ lbave chosen to live in M....m...-r.~u-.r -mh-~unc-u-~â€"---mubmu~mu wailâ€"mam u...- the door to the mobile versit of Waterloo have life as though everything is: WW,%W§§E§EÂ¥E devices that a": fast becom~ helped, it become regarded min-def ”$.2Tmrro‘flm341.4fi:::.mmtatz:z::::z