The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Bm Social Planning Council keeps pulse on the poor Waterloo has an image as a booming highâ€"technolâ€" ogy city, with a wellâ€"educated, middleâ€"class profesâ€" sional population. _ â€" lan Kirkby Chronicle Staff City politicians tell us that times have never been better. But there is another Waterloo, says Ernie Ginsler, the executive director of the Social Planning Council for Waterloo region. While he acknowâ€" ledges that Kitchener and Cambridge have more lower income residents than Waterloo does, Ginsler emphasizes they are here nonetheless. ‘"Sure they are there. Not as many as there might otherwise be, because most of the housing the poor need is flooded by (universitygstudents. Grossman, now a senior vice president with the Winnipegâ€"based Richardson Greenshields investâ€" ment firm, said his 12â€"year experience in the Ontario legislature has taught him that business Canadian businesses must be willing to work closely with government and fight for their beliefs if they hope to have any affect on government policy, says former Progressive Conservative leadâ€" er Larry Grossman. 132nd Year No. 48 "If you are poor and need lowâ€"cost housing, you‘re Businesses must be willing to fight for their beliefs Larry Grossman Special report competing with students, so you‘re more likely to live in Kitchener. But to say there aren‘t any poor people in Waterloo is to ignore the fact that there is insufficient housing in Waterloo for people to live there." Waterloo‘s poor are not as visible as those in many other cities. As well, they often travel to Kitchener to make use of services such as the soup kitchen at the Working Centre, says Ginsler. The Social Planning Council is a multiâ€"faceted communityâ€"based organization. It conducts research into social issues affecting the region; educates the public; consults with and lobbies all three levels of government about social planning and policies; and runs several offshoot programs such as the communâ€" ity information service and Homeshare â€" a service (Continued on page 3) Speaking at Wilfrid Laurier University Monday on the Challenge of Governmentâ€"Business Relaâ€" tions, Grossman said business must form alliances to get their views across and alter policy. He criticized business for not having the courage to stand up for itself, whether it be in support of free trade or against pay equity. does not understand how government works, "does not know how to criticize government policy and neither does it know how to support the governâ€" ment." ‘"Don‘t expect government to have the courage that you don‘t have," the former Tory chief told the approximately 65 business and economics students attending the lecture. "The business comunity has to say ‘I‘m not going to keep you guys in office if you‘re going to do something that will hurt me . .. they‘ve got to learn to say no to the fundraisers." Gmpssman said business must duplicate the activities of Canadian labor unions which hire fullâ€" time researchers and lobbyists to analyze the impact of proposed legislation and write briefs to the government stating labor‘s side. "Unions and special interest groups have a unity of purpose and a discipline that allows them to devote time, effort and talent in lobbying governments." Business, whether it be through the Chambers of Commerce or associations, must do the same. He also urged successful businessmen to bridge the gap between the boardrooms and political office. He used the example of federal finance minister Michael Wilson as one of the very few businessmen to have gone into politics. "Has business and the government given real stature to their politicians. I don‘t think so. If you don‘t give stature to politcians, you won‘t get politicians of stature," said Grossman The first priority of business in the coming years, Grossman said, will be to work with government for changes in the education system to better serve the needs of the marketplace. "The public high school system is not adequate," said Grossman, calling for improved guidance programs, the end of tenure for teachers, increased communication between business and the educators and training programs for students who drop out before they are 18. Waterioo, Ontario 35 cents Winston Churchill student Dale Dickson with his letter to new Ohio pen pal, Seana. Chronicle photo It happened last Monday. Winston Churchill public school student Dale Dickson was out playing in the schoolyard at lunch hour, as he does just about every day of the school year. This Monday was different, however. This day Dale spotted something unusual on the ground â€" frayed rubber with a card attached. The rubber was a balloon, which had travelled all the way from Worthington, Ohio before exploding and landing in Waterloo. The card explained that the balloon was sent by young Seana, a Grade 4 student at Sutter Park Elementary School as part of her classes weather unit. One hundred and forty of the balloons were launched in the experiment, and anyone who found one of the balloons was asked to return the tag with information about where and when the balloon was found. Waterloo‘s very excited, nineâ€"yearâ€"old Dale Dickson done just that. In his letter to Seana, Dale replied that the balloon was found in Waterloo, "located west of Toronto," the "capital of our province, Ontario.‘" Waterloo, he wrote is "famous for great food and the celebration of Oktoberfest," and he invited his new American pen pal to write back with information about her town. Now that‘s a long way has