PAGE 32, WMUTYFfPME MESS. WEDNESDAY. JUN 19,1991 Dop ini new oesaleliked t bdgt .defict An eroson of consumer confidence triggered by the. deficit-ridden 1991 provincial budget wontributed to' a month-cver-month drap/in new home ales during May, says David Keenan, president of the Toronto Home- Buiders? Association (THBA). Keenan said 1,098 new homes were eold in May, down 42 per cent baon the. 1,908 uold iApril. Sales, however, increased 48 per cent fromn the 742 homes sold i May 1991., During the flrst five montha of 1991, 79800 homes wer. sold, up 133 per cent fromn thi. 3,354 homes sold during the .Mmeperiod*lest year. BycSmparison, oenly 8..662 meW homes were uoldi il of 1990, the. worst yeear on record., "Although it in not aur itention to lay:ail th. blame at the. feet cf the. NDP governm.nt, the. timing of the. recent market .lowdown and the. tabling of the. provincial budget were virtually- simultaneous ays Keenan. "When peope see, that the. province is i trouble,. by association tiiey believe they also muet b.i trouble. -Just when lower, interest rates and better economic times were being predcted by'financial analyste, along comes tbis diseatrus budget to shace 'consumer confidence and curb spending. It was like the. Meecii (Lake Accord) shock ail over again," h. says. 1'Taxes are mounting, plants are lo.ing, unempIoý~ment' is rising. and Queens Park continues to operate under a absnese-as-usBual' sign. Wake, up, Ontario, before more businesse leve the. province,"ý says Keenan. Otiier factors. Keenan cited as reasons for the slowdown icluded July-like weather 'in May (people on the. beach, not sales offices), fewer new project openings and a siiortage of serviced land.. Housirig Data Report, prepared by Brethour Resarch Assaciates for the 7UBA, stted that gay sales -.ns isted' cf 867 freehold hor.ds (79 per cent of market) and 231 condonminiums (21 per cent). In the Central region, Etobicoke and Scarborough recorded 26 and 9 sales respectively. The West region led aIl areas in condominium sales with 113, foilowed by Central (69), North' (27) and East (22>. Mississauga topped ail areas with 75 condo sales, followed b Toronto (35), Wity (22, Burlington (20), Scarborougii (17), Brampton (15), North York (15), Thorniiiil (11), Newmarket (10), Oakviile (3) and Vaughan/Maple M3.' The. North région led in, freeholdsales with 340, foloe by West (286), East (199) and _nýtral (42). Misisaualed théi. West> region wih 8 sales, folowediby- Oakvile, (60), Brampton '(24) and Burlington <14). Wluitby topped ail E- ast locations with 64 sales, foilowed by Ajax (48), Pickerlng (45) aind Oshawa (42). Hospital ftrnd at $4.9 millon BMaureoaQulinlan Whit y General Hospital has almoat met the. fundraulnse goal cf $5.5 million for the Firet lass Fund Campaign. T'hè houjiltal han 80 far raised $4.9 million. Mcney wlll ho used to replace and updcate equipment and begin renovations for t he hospital. Overa p.riod cffilve years, the. hospitaî hopes to begin its exten- sive eqmjement renewal program and upgrade moot cf the. existing ecipment at tiie hosoital. Fdnde. will alec b. used to restructure the emergency and outpatient departments, and spae illbeinceaedby more Fiande willl alec hodevoted to devéloplng an aznbulatory car. centre that couldbking together aIl of tii. outpatient services. The. space would alec allow a clasSroom atmcephere to ho used to gve saffand patien._educqi-,, tioniprogas tii. hospit a, a lo ln to cetaeconn.cted and ey, Current programe iuch, aethe, diabetic cJinic, chiropody, the. sexuel aseault care-centre, dis- charge planning and admitting, will ail-ho located i tiiesanie area.ý Revisd sohool rentai policy referrd to Comitte ByMihe Kowaloki A Durham Board of Education committe., will talc. another look at -a new "user pays» sehool rentai policy. The. board's planning, property and transportation committee will decide the. mente of the. POUC atitsmeeting tonigiit T'he matter. was referred te committe. afte a elegatio f Durhiam, Region MC ofciaIs and supporters appeared hofore tiie hoard's fiance committe. lest week. They- are worried that tiie policy, wiiich eliminates eub- sidies te non-profit groupe usig - ol ailté, willjeopardize YMCAperogams. Beginning ept.1, tii. board wil charge rent cn a coot-reco. very basie for any school used b~y community organizations. Although tii. board now rente sciioclsn hi s manner, it pro- vides a subsidy te non-préofit groupe. But during ite budget delb- rations last spring, trusatees felt taxpayers siiould no longer con- tinue to subsidize the user groupe. But without the. subsidy organizations such as the YMCA are faced with raising fees paid by program participants or cut- ting back. A motion from Whitby truste. Patty Bowman last =ekto, con- tinue the. subsidy for another year was referrêd to tonighes meeting. Finance committe. chairman Ruth Min Sciiedlicii cf Pickering said wiiat.ver the. committe. recommende will ho dealt with by tii. full board next Monday. YMCA general manager Janice Griffith waa cautiously optimistic truotees a eeam h ma r-eanie h "Theyr eeemed to b. quit. underetandlng that w. need tc know son, th.y did lieten te us,» eaid Griffith. 5h. sIo eaid truste« apolog- ized for affected groqupe not beinîg lnformed until Apnil. "They were sr, we didnt hav, an opportunîty te speak beforehand,» said Griffiith. In a previous interview, school board chairman Ian Brown said the groupa were notified in February, bu t Brown was mis- infonzned. Staff, did not contact the orgniations until after the. boardsdecision. la an earlier. interview, Grif- fith said fees ciiarged 1y the. YMCA could increase 15 te 30 per cent. Programe at risk include, youth ad aduit sports; babysitter training- achool age ciildcare; presciiol and adult general pro- grains. Correction In a photo caption- in last weee edition, Jennifer Pjvm was incorrectlyintifled as thé win- ner cf an enviroament 'essay contest iield by Hienry Street High Sciiool andiDupeont Canada. TheFMree Press wisiies te apo- HENRY STREET H[igh School awarded Co-op students and employers last week at Le Gala banquet hall ini Whitby. Co-op stiidents of the year were (above) Jennifer. Spry and Jason VaIL. FrS 1%p imt TORONTO MA4PLE Leafs draft pic Rob Pearson (right), a proli.ic scorer with the junior A Oshawa Generale last season, was part of a press conférence at Henry Street dent Peaz Durham College wins 3 TIiiumn awards DunamM Coilege won three maximum of five entries, with 23 ~ ~.awards at the. sixtii annual awards being given out. Trillium Awards in Hainilton on Durham College won an, awai-'d Thursday, May 9. cfeclenei-the.-fultime calendar category, award' of -~ - Communications and market- eclec in thé. recruitment sewhool to announce their i- ing staff fr-om Ontario's 23 video category, and an award of -ement in credfitmng atbletxc stu- coileges of applied arts and merit in tle annual report to;-the Ls 'n- aadennes.Shown with techxiology werei invited :ýto, mnst;ecategoiy son îs Deborah Johnon. participate i the annual Trillium. This stii.first yearl)urg-hai> Chris LBOviphoto Awards. College lias. won a Tfitn Eighteen colleges subînitted a Award. C-LLC4j. Lu &4j ÂJJ CAC->J JL t. 'J .1. JI YIQ ' £Î(JÃ