Dear Constituents,

Now that the election is over and a new government has been sworn in, it is time to get back to work. I am very grateful for the opportunity to continue to work hard on behalf of the residents of Mississauga South which I will do to the best of my ability.

As a member of the Official Opposition, there will be some changes in my Ottawa work. The Official Opposition chairs only 3 of the 20 Standing Committees in the House of Commons. I am pleased to have been asked to chair the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

This Committee has the responsibility to review and report on the public accounts (annual financial statements of the Government of Canada including Crown Corporations and Agencies) and on all reports of the Auditor General of Canada. My background as a Chartered Accountant will be very helpful in this role and I look forward to taking on these new responsibilities.

My work in Mississauga will continue to take up the majority of my time and I am fortunate to continue to have very experienced staff to assist me in addressing your needs.

Finally, I have included in this householder articles on: the impacts of an aging of our society, autism, information about banks, water treatment problems and the significant threat to the trees in Mississauga.

As always, I welcome your questions or views on this householder or on other matters of importance to you and your family.

Sincerely,

Paul Szabo

In 1998, the Ontario government enacted the Legal Aid Services Act which established Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), an independent but publicly funded and publicly accountable non-profit corporation, to administer the province’s legal aid program.

LAO’s mandate is to “promote access to justice throughout Ontario for low-income individuals by means of providing consistently high quality legal aid services in a cost-effective and efficient manner.”

Clients have one thing in common – they are people with low or no income. Every day LAO helps thousands of disadvantaged people, including single mothers seeking child support from delinquent ex-partners; victims of domestic violence; parents seeking custody of children to protect them from abuse; injured workers; refugees; and accused persons.

Only people meeting strict financial eligibility limits receive legal aid. Wherever possible clients are asked to contribute toward the cost of their legal fees.

LAO also runs a certificate program through its network of 51 offices. Here they issue certificates, which low-income people use to retain a private lawyer to represent them in proceedings before the criminal or family courts, certain administrative tribunals or immigration/refugee boards. The certificate is the private lawyer’s guarantee of payment from LAO, subject to the rates and limitations set out. They also provide duty counsel services – performed by staff and private-sector lawyers – for people who arrive in criminal, family or youth courts without a lawyer.

The Mississauga Community Legal Services (“MCLS”) is part of the LAO network of offices. They are located at Suite 501A - 130 Dundas Street East, Mississauga, Ontario L5A 3V8 and their phone number is (905) 896-2050. If you have a situation which may require legal advice, MCLS is there to advise and to help those in need of assistance.

CANADA’S AGING POPULATION

During the next Parliament, the future of our Health Care System will be very high on the agenda and the impacts of our rapidly aging population will examined very carefully.

In 2001, persons aged 65 and over comprised 12.5% of the Canadian population, yet, according to recent figures from Statistics Canada, they accounted for 49.7% of the total government health expenditures. The most recent projections show that seniors could make up 25% to 30% of the population by 2031. This trend raises concerns that an aging population could result in huge cost increases, and possibly undermine the sustainability of the entire health care system.

The advancements in technology and medicine have significantly increased life expectancy while fertility rates have declined. These are the key factors creating an aging population. Meeting the diverse needs of seniors could increase our overall expenditures on health care. At the same time it is possible that the costs may not necessarily dramatically increase.

People in older groups may be healthier in the future. It will be necessary therefore to anticipate how many years of increased life expectancy will be spent in relative good health. There may be new technologies or changing attitudes which may reduce the overprescription of certain drugs. Today we spend as much on pharmaceuticals as we do on doctors and nurses.

In general, those who argue that the future health care system will be in crisis tend to focus on seniors’ relatively higher utilization rates in health care services as the basis for their projections. In contrast, those who argue that future health care costs will be manageable have tried to demonstrate that the elderly population represents only one of the cost drivers or that changes in the future will generate savings to offset the expenses associated with the growth in the elderly population.

Experts have proposed at least four different scenarios that can occur.

1. The nightmare high-cost scenario. People live longer but still get sick or become disabled at the same age as now, while health care costs continue to rise at the same rate over the past two decades (2% per year). The combined affects of these two trends leads to a doubling of the percentage of GDP to health care spending. The crisis is further compounded by the fact that a smaller percentage of the population is working and contributing to the public purse.
2. The manageable costs scenario. The onset of disability and disease is postponed as life expectancy increases while rising costs of health care are offset by budgetary cuts elsewhere.
3. The reformed system scenario. Significant changes in the delivery of health care result in greater efficiencies that will allow the system to cope with the added pressures of an aging population.
4. The compressed morbidity scenario. People will live longer without disability or disease, meaning that overall health care costs will not rise as sharply as the more pessimistic scenarios envisage.

It is important to remember that any prediction about the future consequences of population aging rests upon a number of assumptions. These involve both demographic and non-demographic factors which interact in ways which makes it difficult to make predictions.

The baby boomers are a very large percentage of the population and they did very well in terms of career and retirement planning. From one perspective, they will continue to pay taxes and likely at higher rates than current seniors. It also is possible that some will look for the new generation of seniors to pay for more of their health care. This raises some serious political issues because as a group, the next wave of seniors will have enormous political influence due to there shear numbers. Gray-power is going to become huge over the next decade.

The European Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) is a recently introduced defoliating insect that is considered to be a major tree pest in North America. The Gypsy Moth caterpillar, or larva stage of the insect, eats the leaves of trees making them more susceptible to disease and attack and damage from other insects.

Tree damage is caused by the Gypsy Moth larvae, or caterpillars. Once they emerge from their egg mass, they begin to feed upon the leaves of the tree. Feeding occurs mostly at night. During daylight hours, the caterpillars generally seek shade. However, during heavy infestations, such as the one Mississauga is currently experiencing, the caterpillars change their behaviour.

They no longer move up and down the tree, feeding at night and seeking shade during the day. Instead, they remain in the tops of the trees and continually feed. As a result of the increased competition for food, they go beyond their preferred leaf sources of maple, elm and oak trees and consume whatever's available. In the early growth stages, the caterpillars chew small holes on the upper surface of the leaves. As they mature, they eat all of the foliage, leaving only the major veins of the leaves.

Tree damage depends on the degree of infestation and can range from light to almost complete defoliation. Most deciduous trees can survive a moderate degree of defoliation and many can survive one, complete defoliation by the Gypsy Moth caterpillars. However, continuing attacks can fatally weaken a tree and leave it vulnerable to other insects or disease. Trees in Mississauga are already weakened and they will not survive repeated defoliation by the Gypsy Moth caterpillars.

The Gypsy Moth caterpillar prefers the leaves of deciduous hardwood trees such as maple, elm and particularly oak trees. However, will also feed upon apple, alder, birch, poplar and willow trees. As the caterpillar matures, it will also begin to attack evergreens such as pines and spruces. Gypsy Moth caterpillars appear to dislike ashes, sycamores, butternuts, black walnuts, dogwoods and balsams.

Gypsy Moths are seen only in mid-summer. Males are grayish brown and can fly and the females are larger, whitish with black marks and cannot fly. Soon after mating, the females lay oval shaped egg masses on the limbs and trunks of trees, on rocks, buildings, vehicles or in other sheltered areas. The male and female moths exist only to mate once and after the females lay their eggs, moths of both sexes die.

The egg masses, which are tan in colour, remain in place all winter and will hatch the following spring from late April to mid-May depending on the weather. Once hatched, the small black caterpillars begin to feed. Typically, the caterpillars do their leaf-eating at night, crawling down to the ground or sheltered areas in the morning to rest. In cases of heavy infestation, however, the caterpillars remain in the tops of the trees continually feeding.

The Gypsy Moth's life cycle consists of growth stages called "instars." There are five instar stages for males and six for females. Feeding lasts for approximately seven weeks and occurs in the instar stages. As the caterpillars mature, they reach 35 to 60 mm in length and their feeding activities increase and continue throughout the entire day. In mid-summer, the caterpillars pupate in sheltered areas and emerge about two weeks later in early August (depending on location) and the cycle begins again.

Gypsy Moth populations have reached an alarming level in numerous areas of the City of Mississauga. If control measures are not taken, significant, and more likely, total defoliation of trees along city streets, in park woodlands and on private property will occur.

Staff inspections of the outbreak areas, named 'hot spots', saw trees covered with hundreds of egg masses. In some cases, trees had as many as 800 egg masses and when the egg masses hatch in the spring, these 'hot spots' will see hundreds of thousands of caterpillars in most trees.
To date, the City has identified the following areas as 'hot spots': Mineola East, Mineola West, Gordon Woods, White Oaks/Lorne Park, Doulton Drive, Britannia Community Forest Woods and Erin Woods. However, area inspections are still being conducted.

During heavy infestation periods, the Gypsy Moth caterpillars will go beyond their preferred leaf sources of maple, elm and oak trees and consume whatever's available. As a result, all tree species are at risk of defoliation by the constant feeding of the caterpillars. Trees in Mississauga are already 'stressed' or weakened and will not survive repeated defoliation by the Gypsy Moth caterpillars. The result will be the loss of up to approximately 10,000 trees, (which does not include the number of trees affected on private property,) if no treatment method is undertaken.

The Gypsy Moth has been present in Mississauga for a number of years. To date, population levels have not reached outbreak levels. In the past, staff and residents worked together using a variety of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) measures to control the Gypsy Moth population. Some of the IPM measures included placing sticky bands and installing burlap wraps around tree trunks, collecting and destroying egg masses as well as caterpillars, using pheromone traps and creating more natural habitats at the base of trees to encourage predators. These measures however, did not prevent the current surge in population, particularly in the upper tree canopies, and will not be effective against the current Gypsy Moth population.

The Ratepayers Associations in the affected areas have been very involved in the process to inform the public and to support the most appropriate solution. City Council has also had public meetings and engaged a qualified consultant to report to Council. This is a very serious problem in our community and it is important that you be informed.

Your ratepayer association and your city councillor certainly have been actively involved and if you have any questions, you should contact them or visit the City’s web site at www.mississauga.ca. Another site of interest is www.savethetrees.ca which also has detailed information.

In my work as a Parliamentarian, I have become acutely aware that there are a host of problems that can afflict a child and for which there is no known cure. Autism is one of them.

Here is what a mother said of her baby:
“When he was about eighteen months he started to show some strange behavior. He would play with objects in a way that was not normal, pushing and pulling on them without looking directly at the object, waving his hands in the air for no apparent reason, staring off into the distance. What stood out to me was that he would not look at you directly. When you put it all together his behaviour seemed to be out of the ordinary.”

Autism, is a pervasive development disorder (PDD), a group of illnesses that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize or form relationships with others, to communicate and to use imagination (including fantasy play). Children with these disorders often are confused in their thinking and generally have problems understanding the world around them.

Autism varies a great deal in severity. Some individuals are mildly
affected and may exhibit slight delays in language and mild difficulties with social interaction. Others, with more severe autism, may have no speech and exhibit self-injurious and aggressive behaviours. This naturally also presents a significant challenge to our schools.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder has become more common than childhood cancer and childhood diabetes, and is putting enormous demands on our health care system. Although there are some drugs that may help autistic children, some provinces do not cover the costs thereby leaving the burden to the families.

Public education is always part of the process of finding solutions. If you would like to learn more about autism, you can visit the web site of The Autism Canada Foundation (www.autismcanada.org)

Each year when our Canadian Banks announce their annual financial results, I receive many communications from constituents claiming that the banks charge too much for services and make too much money.

Generally, people see banks simply as high paid executives rather than companies that compete with other banks for customers. Those customers can be individuals or businesses both in Canada and Internationally. Banks, like any other business, must also earn a financial return for their shareholders which is competitive with the return those investors could get by investing in other businesses or industries. If they don’t, people will invest there money elsewhere and the bank’s business will suffer. At the same time, the banks operate in a very highly regulated environment because of the important role they play in our economy.

Banking is a vital industry that contributes to Canada's well-being in numerous ways. Banks are strong employers, donors, taxpayers, purchasers of goods and services, innovators, exporters and civic partners.

Canada's banks help entrepreneurs turn ideas into reality by providing more than $87 billion in financing to small and medium sized businesses. Banks are leaders in corporate social responsibility, donating more than $148 million to charitable organizations in Canada and around the world and nurturing a culture of employee volunteerism. Recognized as progressive and innovative employers, banks and their subsidiaries in Canada employed over 239,000 people and paid $18 billion in salaries and benefits in 2004.

Banks' investment in Canada's economy goes further. In 2004, they purchased $11.2 billion of goods and services from other businesses. Among the highest-taxed businesses, in 2004 the six largest banks paid $7.6 billion in taxes in Canada, which are used to fund government programs and services.

And banks are successful exporters, generating approximately 28 per cent of earnings outside of the country, while 86 per cent of bank employees were located in Canada, and 85 per cent of taxes were paid in Canada.

Who owns Canada's banks? Canadians do - through public and private pension plans, RRSPs, and mutual funds. For example, in 2004, 16 million Canadians owned bank stocks through their membership in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP); bank stocks make up nearly 21 per cent of the Canadian equity holdings in the CPP.

Canada's banking system is safe and efficient, and has earned the trust of Canadians. Consumers are well protected by a robust regulatory system, strong industry standards, and a healthy, competitive financial marketplace that offers a broad range of choices in how, when and where consumers can access accounts and manage their financial lives.

If you would like to know more about our banks and the Canadian Banking system, you can get information from the Canadian Bankers Association (“CBA”). Established in 1891, the CBA is funded by its members and works with them to promote the strength and continued success of the industry, while building a greater understanding of the banking sector. The CBA can be contacted at (416) 362-6092 or you can visit their web site at www.cba.ca.

Every bank has a complaint resolution process, usually through an internal Ombudsman. If customers are not happy, their business will go elsewhere so it is important for banks to address these problems in a timely and business-like fashion.
If a customer still is not satisfied, there is another option. The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (“OBSI”) provides an independent and impartial process for the investigation and resolution of Complaints about the provision of Financial Services to small business and individual Clients. The Ombudsman is not an advocate for either the financial services industry or consumers. The Ombudsman and the Board of the OBSI are independent of the financial services industry and government. There is no fee for their service and you can contact them at (416) 287-2877 or visit their web site at www.obsi.ca.

There is also another option to receive help and advice. The Centre for the Financial Services OmbudsNetwork (CFSON) provides Canadian financial services consumers with single-window access to high-quality, independent, impartial and effective complaint resolution services in the banking, life and health insurance, general insurance, securities and mutual funds industries.

The Centre’s goal is to ensure that consumer questions, concerns and complaints are treated fairly and consistently across the Financial Services OmbudsNetwork (FSON) in a timely, accurate and courteous manner. They can be reached at their toll free number 1-888-538-3766 or you can visit their web site at www.cfson-crcsf.ca.

I hope this information on banking is helpful and I would appreciate receiving some feedback from you on ways that our banks can better serve its customers. I would also suggest that, if you feel you are paying too much for banking services that you use, please take the time to visit your bank branch and talk to a customer service representative. By assessing your banking needs and habits, they often have suggestions on how you can reduce or even eliminate some of the service fees you may be incurring or how you may increase the income on your deposits.

For a number of years, residents in the Lakeview area have experienced very strong odours coming from the Lakeview Wastewater Treatment Facility. The odours disrupt the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their homes and the residents have expressed concern about why this problem has not been resolved. I have looked into the matter and it appears that there is a plan to address the problem by early 2007.

The following is a brief backgrounder. In 1998, the Region of Peel assumed ownership of the water treatment plant from the Province of Ontario and determined that the facility was having a significant odour impact on the local community. The Region initiated several short-term odour reduction measures while developing long-term strategies with Regional Council and the local community. The main problem is the ZIMPRO process of treating the water. Under this process, the sewage sludge is cooked at high temperatures and under high pressure.

The Region is spending $260 million on the plant to expand it to deal with future growth and to discontinue the ZIMPRO water treatment process which is substantially responsible for the odours. They are also replacing the incinerator to lower the energy use.

Although the overall problems are somewhat improved, there have been sporadic odourous events due to shut down of various plant processes to accommodate tie-ins from new to existing infrastructure. There should be a noticeable decrease in odours in 2006. The expansion and replacement work is well under way and it is expected to be completed by early 2007.

If you would like to obtain more detailed information on this matter, you should contact The Region of Peel Water and Wastewater Treatment at (905) 791-7800 Extension 4394.

Visit us on the Internet: www.paulszabo.com

Mississauga Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments can be scheduled during office hours or other arrangements can be made by calling the office.

Constituents may write to any Member of Parliament or Cabinet Minister postage free. Simply address your envelope to the particular Member, c/o House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6. Your views and suggestions are important.