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	<title>Jane Mitchell's Blog</title>
	<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog</link>
	<description>Region of Waterloo and Municipal Issues</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:04:43 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>The Money for Trains Falls Short</title>
		<description><![CDATA[First, THANK YOU to the Province and the Federal government for the biggest grants ever given to the Region. 300 million from the province and 265 million from the feds. Unfortunately it leaves us around 225 million short. This could translate into a between 7 and 12 percent rise in property tax in one year. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=456</link>
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		<title>LRT Yet Again. Expanding my Letter to the Record.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve had some feedback on my letter to the Record about the LRT and Mayor Craig of Cambridge. So here&#8217;s the letter with some answers to people&#8217;s e-mail and written comments. Saying the LRT will be overbudget because it is government is pure speculation. The region has $4,000,000 infrastructure money left over because we came [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=448</link>
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		<title>Why Social Conservatives Hate the Long Form Census</title>
		<description><![CDATA[About 23 years ago, I advocated for increased daycare. I discovered to my amazement that some right-wing groups were against Statistics Canada. StatsCan was painted as a leftist organization because they showed that more women were working outside the home and they had a poverty line that the right-wing think tanks disagreed with. As a librarian, I have to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=445</link>
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		<title>The New Face of Farming In Waterloo Region.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A few posts ago, I discussed my reading of the book &#8220;The Omnivore&#8217;s Dilemma&#8221; Not wanting to be one of those &#8220;city folks with a garden&#8221; who get all their agriculture info from books, I jumped at the chance this year to take the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture&#8217;s farm tour. First of all, don&#8217;t mention [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=428</link>
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		<title>Gravel Pits.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Last Friday, I took a tour of North Dumfries with the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture. Much to my surprise, not only agriculture was on the agenda. We also toured some &#8220;rehabilitated&#8221; gravel pits. First let me say that we need gravel. It is used to build houses, stores and roads. Gravel was used to make the 401 in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=418</link>
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		<title>300 million for Rapid Transit!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The province has given 300 million for rapid transit.  Three things to remember as the Record notes the possible shortfall from the province. 1. I am sure staff is busy looking at plans and alternatives for council. 2. The feds have to put their amount in. 3. Regional councillors are not going to look kindly [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=411</link>
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		<title>Speech in Response to Removing Sensitive Re-charge Lands from being Part of the Countryside</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My speech on Tuesday in response to Tom Galloway&#8217;s motion to not include the sensitive SW corner of Kitchener as part of the protected countryside.  The motion was defeated, 14 to 3, and so the land will remain firmly agricultural and part of the countryside, not in the urban area.  Tom, Mayor Zehr, Jake Smola and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=392</link>
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		<title>Housing, Transit, Baby Boomers and Demographics.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[David Foot, of Boom, Bust and Echo fame was the key note speaker at a Regional Housing Forum, The Past is not the Future. To my mind, he emphasized that the past is the future. The Baby Boomers rule everything and will for the next 30 years. By the way, Baby Boomers aren&#8217;t the retired, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=381</link>
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		<title>Doing what You Want to Your Property. A Thorny Issue (Sometimes literally!)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s been a number of issues in the media recently about disputes between neighbours and individuals (including corporations). One was a property in an old neighbourhood of Waterloo where the trees were removed on a property for a parking lot and the neighbours objected to losing shade. I have also given advice to a constituent [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=374</link>
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		<title>Smart on Crime</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve all heard &#8220;Tough on Crime&#8221; and &#8220;Soft on Crime&#8221;, politicians crow about the first and throw the second at their opponents, particularly at the provincial and federal levels. There&#8217;s a better expression, &#8220;Smart on Crime&#8221; The Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council wants you to tell them what &#8220;Smart on Crime&#8221; means. I wrote, &#8220;Smart [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://chicktrip.com/blog/?p=369</link>
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