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I ,Milton part of alliance of rural municipalities By JASON MISNER The Champion 'he voices of rural areaa in Greater Toronto have gotten stronger. Milton la one of 13 rural and semni-rural municipalities that have formed an officiai alliance to ensure their concems are heard at Queen's Park. Mayor Gord Krantz said he's optimistic the Greater Toronto Mayors Countryside Alliance will have an influence on the rul- ing Liberal provincial govemment to address issues like growth and its impact on greenspace, and accommodating the influx of residents moving into municipal- ities that have strong rural character. In Milton, the rural/agricultural land- scape is huge, covering more than 80 per cent of thse town's total land mass. 'Me overaîl purpose of the alliance, formed March 5, is to 'work toward somne co-ordinated need, to make sure many of us are saying the same thing to achieve anything at ai," Mr. Krantz said. Earlier this year, a sumamit of Canada's big-city mayors was held to press goveru- ments about funding. There's also the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Big City Mayors Caucus that meets regularly. The smaller municipalities have said they need to bend the car of government as well. "If we want to have any control over our destiny, this is one way to do il," Mr. Krantz said. The alliance, Mr. Krantz said, will likely meet three or four times a year. The next meeting is expccted to be held in May or June. Halton Hilîs Mayor Rick Bonnette, whosc municipslity has also joined the alliance, said "if's a great ides" and will benefit smaller municipalities. The town- ship has a massive agricultural/rural ares. "Right now, cverything in the GTA cen- tres around Bramipton, Mississauga, Oshawa, the City of Toronto, but we also have a voice, too," he said. "We represent 60 per cent of thse lands in the GTA. We're little guys on thse edge of thc big guys. We want to be heard." One of his issues of concemn is agricul- tural assessment. Farm properties are bcing asscsscd too high and risk putting somne out of business, he said. "Wc want to kccp our grecnbelts as well as kecping our fsrncers farming." The Province eecently struck a tssk force to study greenbclt issues in thc Golden Horscshoe. Mr. Krantz said it only makes sense for Uic alliance to work with thc task force. Also, he sain citizens and agricultural and cnvironmental groups should be con- sulted to hear whst Uiey have to ssy. "Iru supportive of getting that kind of sdvicc." Jason Misner con be reached at jmis- ner@miltoncanadianchampion.com. ~A~I1J The Canadien Champion, Tuesday, March 16, 2004-15