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aiceasgassjss union ard times st stouffville f o r sewage from page 1 trolled by the region of york not local municipalities my council will ask for water and sewage up and down the 404 if newmarket thinks they can get it he said i dont know what they are doing yorks plans say there is no sewage capacity for that quadrant emmerson said his councils position remains the same theres no reason to meet with newmarket im not giving up my land theres nothing else to say i dont know what they want to meet for he said emmerson added if newmarket wants to talk about boundaries all nine of york regions municipalities should be included in the talks if thats what they want lets bring the whole region into it he said but york region politicians quietly agreed to abandon boundary issues last year after no one could agree on any solutions newmarket also wants to meet with east gwillimbury at stake is a section of yonge street property south of green lane slated to become home to a 4000seat megatheatre and regional commercial centre the project is expected to bring recordhigh commer cial taxes for east gwillimbury a rural municipality that depends on residential properties for 92 per cent of its tax base newmarket has always coveted the area but didnt become serious until metrus properties submitted a plan for the 16screen famous players theatre and commercial complex newmarket mayor tom taylor has said it makes sense for his town to control the area so it can be planned as an extension of the town union requests a conciliator from page 1 we could get down to meaningful negotiations on friday it was the unions belief that the board has had the necessary funding information for the past two months and were ready to proceed but less than an hour before the sides were to discuss mon etary issues johnston said the talks ended when board nego tiator maria ciani told the union she wasnt ready to debate money issues theres something bigger going on here said johnston noting richardson was seen at the hotel but left before talks began we were ready to agree to what isbasically a rollover deal however board vicechairperson karen barker said richardson wasnt available tuesday and there were plenty of other issues to be discussed i understand the federation wanted to talk about staffing and we didnt its that simple barker said we asked to defer discussion to monday and suggested there were dozens of issues we could talk about given the federation is seeking 350 changes to the current collective agreement but under the revised negotiating process of bill 160 theres little delay in moving toward a strike position and with school ending in two weeks the union wanted to move fast weve gone from zero to 100 in no time flat the time frame is very short said johnston we wanted to position ourselves so the members know where they stand before the end of the year the two sides will meet again today and tomorrow to work on contract language but issues around staffing and com pensation wont be discussed until monday teachers had entered the talks seeking a 3percent pay hike but insist that is simply their opening offen- johnston said the union has looked at the funding available to the board and believes there is no need to adjust staffing were convinced only minor adjustments need to be made we think the funding formula can work here the money is there if the board would just share the financial information theyre riot being truthful with us the tribune thursday june 4 1998 p 3 just to say thanks st mark catholic school principal don hathway centre hands out gifts to the schools volunteers at the annual volunteer appreciation tea held tuesday photo by sjoerd witteveen mayors indifferent to gtsb and its mandate lisa queen staff writer york region politicians are reacting with thinly veiled indifference to mod erator alan tonks recommendations for the greater toronto services board the report released tuesday is just the latest in a long line of studies about governing the gta but by yesterday afternoon most york mayors hadnt even received a copy and most werent in a hurry to get one it was a different story four years ago when the former ndp government appointed metro toronto united way president anne golden to head an exhaustive study politicians were clamoring for the report released in january 1 995 reaction to the study which recom- mended wiping out regional govern ments in favour of a strong gtsb was immediate and mixed residents and municipal leaders then lined up to express their concerns to the libby burnhafn panel appointed to gather feedback on the golden report waning interest was revived when the province set up the david crombie who does what committee to reinves- tigatethe issue by the time facilitator milt farrow came along to review the crombie panels recommendations many people had lost interest in march the province introduced draft legislation on the gtsb and appointed tonks to consult with munic ipal politicians he is recommending the board run h 111 iiip kmi sj r y 5 si laes 4- pf m tonks moderator emmerson one vote go transit and coordinate major ser vices- that cross regional boundaries such as garbage roads and water and sewjer a somewhat stronger mandate than the provinces original drft while municipal affairs minister al leach agreed the gtsb should run go he said the board shouid only act as a discussion forum on other issues tonks has also deviated from the tories model of representation instead of the 28 seats suggested by queens park tonks wants to see 40 representatives every municipality and region will be at the table but votes will be weighted based on population approximately one vote for every 50000 residents the 40 councillors will cast a total of 110 votes on any given issue for example toronto has 1 1 seats but will have 55 votes giving the city half the representation on the board however the citys representation is slightly diminished on go issues because hamiltonwentworth will be allowed to vote york region will have a total of 10 seats one for each of the nine munic ipalities plus the regional chairperson the region gets two votes or 1 8 per cent of the total markham will have three votes or 27 per cent vaughan gets two votes or 18per cent richmond hill has two votes or 18 per cent each of the other towns has one vote or 09 per cent of the total york chairperson bill fisch who had nt seen tonks report complained a board with more than 20 representa tives would be too unruly french debate divides public board jennifer brown staff writer public school board trustees want more information before they decide to cut the core french program for chil dren in grades 1 to 3 following a presentation from cana dian parents for french and an hour- long debate monday night trustees deferred a recommendation to cut the program which provides 40 minutes of instruction daily until the june 9 budget meeting in march the new provincial funding formula eliminated the boards 33- million grant to fund primary french forcing local officials to find the money or cancel the program but giving school boards the ability to cancel a program doesnt mean they have to do it said john ryan a mem ber of canadian parents for french york region chapter the cost is not a major item at all ryan told trustees you dont cancel a valuable program just because it is legal or convenient from a curriculum or administrative point of view will please see page 7 p4jp