October 06, 1995 - Glebe Report

School board amalgamation will
hurt Ottawa Catholic rate payers
Editor, Glebe Report,
A tax hike of between six-and-ahalf
per cent and 20 percent will
hit Ottawa Catholic rate payers if
the current plans for school board
amalgamation go through. This is
only one of the ways amalgamation,
as outlined in the Interim Report of
the Ontario School Board Reduction
Task Force, will affect those of us
living in downtown Ottawa and supporting
the separate system.
If your child is in school, chances
are you've received your copy of the
Interim Report. Its basic premise
is that by amalgamating school
boards more money will be available
for students in the classroom.
Sounds great if, like most parents
and taxpayers, you are concerned
about the quality and cost of education.
But if your child happens to attend
a school within the Ottawa Roman
Catholic School Separate Board
(ORCSSB) amalgamation can only
mean an increase in taxes and a decrease
in services. Services that
are essential to inner city Catholic
schools.
The task force calls for the amalgamation
of the Ottawa, Carleton
and Renfrew Catholic School Boards.
This new board would educate over
38,000 students in nearly 100
schools. Based on the current expenditure
levels of the three separate
boards, its total budget would
reach $244 million. Rate payers in
Ottawa would be responsible for
half of that $244 million due to our
assessment base. Yet we would have
less than a third of the students
and be represented by only three of
the proposed nine trustees.
Editor, Glebe Report
I am very concerned about the
Federal Government's unilateral reassessment
of their property values
which would seriously reduce their
grants-in-lieu of taxes to be paid to
the City of Ottawa.
In a letter to the City of Ottawa,
dated March 8, 1993, Jean Chretien
stated:
"Liberals believe that the
Conservative government's practice
of downloading its debt problems to
the provinces and municipalities
must come to an end. Our basic
premise is that the role of governments
is to serve citizens, not to
compete with one another. While
there may be some short term political
gain in downloading and forcing
another level of government to
take the heat for increasing taxes,
at the end of the day the same taxpayer
is stuck with the tab."
"A Liberal government would aim
to achieve the maximum predictability
possible in inter-goy-
Our priorities are different than
both the Carleton and Renfrew
Boards. Ottawa has a poverty rate
up to 5 times higher than that of
the municipalities. Many Ottawa
Catholic programs have been designed
to face this need, such as resources
for social workers, special
education professionals and additional
funds in school budgets. It
will be difficult for these priorities
to hold their ground in an
amalgamated board.
While the report promises benefits,
it doesn't go into detail and
manages to avoid dealing with some
of the very real costs of amalgamation
- estimated only two years ago
by the Boums Report at between $2
and $6 million for our local
Catholic boards. It manages to
avoid detail in a number of other
areas and gives us nowhere to go for
answers. It seems rather convenient
that the state of the Province's finances
has not allowed them to hold
public hearings.
If we're concerned we need to ask
questions. Talk to your principal,
your trustee, your neighbours. We
have until the end of October to respond
by writing, faxing or calling
the Task Force. But if you really
want your voice to be heard, get in
touch with your MPP.
Write: Ontario School Board Reduction
Task Force, 101 Bloor St.
West, 13th floor, Toronto, Ontario,
M5S 1P7. Fax (416)325-2976 or
call 1-800-562-6954.
Nancy Huggett, Member
Special Advisory Committee,
O.R.C.S.S.B
Look who's downloading
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emmental financial arrangements."
I hope that Mr. Chretien's position
is likewise predictable and
that he will not move forward with
this proposed unfair reduction to
the Federal Government share of
Editor, Glebe Report:
In his September 15 Glebe Report
column Regional Councillor Brian
McGarry laments the departure of
the Ottawa Senators (and possibly
the Rough Riders) from Lansdowne
Park, referring to it as "looming
economic change" in Capital Ward.
He asks, "...do we have initiatives
that will replace and contribute to
the long-standing vitality of
Capital Ward?"
It would be nice to see the statistics
that lead Mr. McGarry to equate
the departure of these teams with
economic doomsday in Capital
Ward. What statistics and/or
opinions does the Glebe Business
Group have on this? How much revenue
do Senators games actually
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our city's revenue base.
I hope everyone in the community
will write' to all local MP's and
make their views known.
Diane McIntyre, President,
Glebe Community Association
Looming economic change?
How much and for whom?
irAw"/
generate for local businesses, on
and off Bank Street? How about
Ottawa South? Has anyone determined
the cost to local businesses
when their neighbourhood "bread
and butter" customers go elsewhere
in frustration to shop because they
can't find parking near local
stores?
The Glebe and the rest of Capital
Ward survived quite well pre-
Senators, and will continue to do so
when residents don't have to plan
their lives, i.e. dinner parties,
family get-togethers, community
events, shopping trips, etc. around
the Senators or Roughriders game
schedules.
Eleanor Bennett, & Mira Mossop
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October 6, 1995 Glebe Report-5