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WATERLOO CHRONICLE Publisher: Cal Bosveld 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wehronicle@sentex.net Regional Classified Classified 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J IP2 The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southern Ontario Community Newspapers Inc., a division of Southam Publicanons, a CanWest Company The views of our columists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. International Standard Serial Number [SSN 0832â€"3410 The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor They should be signed with name, address and phone num ber and will be verified for accuâ€" racy. No unsigned letters will be published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief. Copyright in letters and other materials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S., Suite 201. Waterloo N2] 1P2, our eâ€"mail addréss is wchronicle@sentex.net, and our fax number is 886â€"9383 Carolyn Anstey Circulation Manager Letters Policy Andrea Bailey Bob Vrbanac Reporter Sports Editor Cal Bosveld Gerry Mattice Retail Sales Manager Canadian Publications Mail Sales "*Product Agreement Number 136379 Norma Cyca Advertising Publisher Lynin Bart ol Audited circulation: 26,056 Manager > sm § Deborah Crandall Editor Laurie Ridgway Joanne Dicaire Advertising im Alexander Director of Advertising Bill Karges Advertising Sales High hopes breed disappointment. One should never think too pie in the sky, because chances are the pie is merely a cloud of smog. Speaking of smog, I can‘t help but think of a dense fog of pollution every time I lay eyes on the updated redevelopment plans for Waterloo‘s uptown core. â€"Instead, it seems the most local residents can hope for is a smaller, cleaner version of the city up the street, complete with parking garages and a sea of asphalt. What was to be the hub of all interests, from enterâ€" tainment to education, has been scaled back to a driâ€" ver‘s heaven, with what seems to be enough available parking to accommodate every car in town. _ The planned pedestrianâ€"friendly sanctuary, where all of life‘s needs were going to be just steps away, has been replaced by a large gray mass, with a grocery store and some shops to d dress things up a bit. _ Suddenly the pie in the sky has become a tart, which First Gulf chalks up to a lack of interest on the part of businesses to be a part of the highâ€"scale plan. Last summer, the comâ€" pany unveiled a model showing all of the promised amenities, from a multiâ€"screen movie theâ€" atre and a giant bookstore, to shops and cafés along King _ Street to â€" help enhance the class of the core. Yes, ul?'s right. The dazzling plans the First Gulf Developmient Corporation presented just one year ago, which gave the impression that our fair city was to be the next version of Paris, complete with bouâ€" tiqueâ€"style shops and sidewalk cafés, are no more. Today, all of those promises have been considerâ€" ably downsized. The cinema and bookstore are no longer on the blueprints. Plans for a new city library, a concept First Gulf seemed to welcome with open arms, has been moved to a location outside the uptown area. And any signs of new residential life have been wiped completely off the map. We‘ve had our fill of empty promises Sure the massive grocery store is still a go, and the company still hopes to attract a number of local indeâ€" pendent retailers to set up shop along King Street. There may even be a new hotel on Erb Street overâ€" looking Waterloo Park if First Gulf can get its ducks in a row. But that‘s all she wrote. Mark Kindrachuk, First Gulf‘s viceâ€"president of development, has explained that a change in market demands since the birth of the project, as well as an overestimation of community acceptance on the part of First Gulf, forced the scaleback. Now I don‘t pretend to be an expert in the field of development; and I understand that most good ideas face their share of roadblocks, but come on. Does First Gulf really expect the city to buy they had no inkling of the market demands just one year ago? How can you go from plans of grandeur one summer to practically a mirror image of what we already have the next? Development plans ‘should be based on the longterm future, not the next day; and First Gulf should have been well aware of what this city would and would not accept when it painted such a glorious picture. _ Obviously someone forgot to do his or her homeâ€" work, which lately seems to be an epidemic in this city. Frankly, given many people have associated First Gulf with being all talk and no action, as well as the fact the company has requested yet another extenâ€" sion to have some of its building permits in place, I find it difficult to believe even the current plans will ever see the light of day. So now it‘s in the hands of Waterloo council whether to accept and approve the new plans. Given the fact the folks around the horseshoe have only started to remove the egg from their faces over another municipal issue, it may be wise for them to remember two words when dealing with First Gulf: empty promises. VIEWPOINT We wave the flag proudly, eh? ay, hey, that was a great Canada Day, eh? SThere‘s never been such a display of flags. I‘m a longâ€"time believer. Theâ€"flag flies at our debtor‘s prison for most of the year. It‘s amazing how Canada‘s flag has caught on. There was a time when the average Canadian was too embarrassed to fly the banner. He‘d be as embarrassed as the chap who had his brandâ€"new Mercedes sideswipe his tax auditor‘s 10â€"yearâ€"old Chevy. Around the Park: Well, the battle is joined over the RIM Park financing. It‘s time to litigate so we‘ll have to wait quite a bit longer for the full story. So what‘s that hurt? Contrary to what some columnists seem to believe, the first duty of council is to not disclose every detail of the fiasco. Its firstâ€"duty is to ensure that councillors and bureaucrats present the city‘s best case, and one way to do that is to avoid tipping off the other side. As that old philosopher Kenny Rogers puts its, there‘ll be time enough for counting when the dealing‘s done. And, indeed, there‘ll be time enough to sort out the guilty and the innocent when the legal shenanigans are complete. Besides, we‘ll likely need some of them as witnesses. The city‘s decision to file suit oP was indicated by the time taken B/ for discussions. Of course, there could have been other less likely explanations for the delay in their decision Like so: Somebody spilled catsup and mustard on the agreement, and they were still trying to get it fit for reading! _ â€" _ There was still a bit of drilling going on at the park site, and the sessions were dedicatâ€" ed to praying they struck oil; 8 â€" The sessions reportedly opened late each day because the city‘s top bureaucrats were attending classes in remedial arithmetic. And so on. Yes, I‘ll admit the park is hardly the subâ€" ject for levity (which 1 have tried to avoid). Still, when tears as big as ice cubes are runâ€" ning down taxpayer chetks, there‘s a point at | Tie> 44&V which tears just smear the makeup. L respect the new blackout, but there‘s just one thing I wonder: Who were the coâ€"signers on the deal? You know what a coâ€"signer is? He‘s a damn fool with a ballpoint pen. As I Was Saying... A week or so back 1 wrote that the NDP caucus in the legislature is riven with strife with some members planâ€" ning to quit. What happened? Frances Lankin, a splendid member, has resigned to head the Toronto United Appeal. Next? t Hot Stuff: Boy! The new summer has delivered some days (or is it daze?) of pure heat, plus humidity, plus smog. It strikes me as great to heed the warning about tolling too hard. There‘s even an option: Don‘t do any work â€"__ at all. I can prove it‘s too hot to trot. The other morning 1 saw a )VER J dog chasing a cat and they were s . both walking. e D H . Add to that an upset byelecâ€" tion defeat, and then, to climax his week, an allâ€"day quiz at the inquiry into the Walkerton water fiasco. How did he do? Well, he took responsibilâ€" ity for the mess...sort of. He said the buck stops with him, but, golly, he wasn‘t informed of any of the risks from the deep cuts in environment spending or any of the changes that flowed from them. Of course, he was batting a difficult wickâ€" et, and I guess you‘d have to say he did OK. At times though he came across as a cold fish. And he was too eager to parrot that finances were in brutal shape and action was urgentâ€" ly needed. _ But the statistics and stuff did not serve him well. For, as Arthur Koestler once wrote, "Statistics don‘t bleed." Questions and Answers: it wasn‘t the greatest of weeks for Mike Harris. First, a poll showed the PCs, with just a third of the voters, trailing the Liberals even more badly than before. Add to that the health and education woes that have almost constants, and the latter now exacerbated by a sudden rush to assist parents in sending their kids to private schools.