Freedom Flyer 10

Photo caption: Cathy and Bill Frampton, along with Marc Emery were in town on the weekend campaigning against BIAs (Business Improvement Areas).

By LILIAN DiRISIO

After months of preparation, and two weeks before its final approval, the Bronte Business Improvement Area has run into a problem - Marc Emery of the Freedom Party.

As it stands now, the Bronte BIA will be formed on Feb. 12 if there is no objection to it. However, town council can scrap the necessary passing of the by-law if 33% of the business owners file a petition with their objection.

Emery, along with two assistants, distributed pamphlets, titled "Warning: BIA's are Hazardous to your Economic Health and Independence," to merchants in downtown Oakville and Bronte this weekend.

"Emery somehow swayed some merchants that a BIA is another government form of taxation. He basically told them untruths. There is a good chance he managed to sway one-third of the businesses to oppose the BIA," explained Richard Carson, the owner of Home Hardware Store on Lakeshore Road West, and the man who has been trying to establish a Bronte BIA for the past 18 months.

The Bronte BIA, if formed, will run west of Jones Street and north of Marine Drive.

Carson stressed the formation of a Bronte BIA would help the business community. The major point of BIAs is to compel all business owners in an area to pay their share towards street beautification and business promotion.

And, Carson pointed out BIAs are eligible for provincial assistance from the Commercial Area Improvement Program.

The Freedom Party, an Ontario political party formed in 1984, opposes BIAs for several reasons: once a municipality passes the bylaw, every business in the defined area is automatically a member; BIA taxes have become "horrendous" in many communities; members have no direct say where their money is being spent.

"Membership is compulsory. BIAs practise extortion," said Emery.

He explained while a BIA can be stopped more effectively in its initial stages, it is not impossible to eliminate one that is already established. According to Emery, the Freedom Party had a hand in the recent abolishment of BIAs in Aurora and Toronto.

Emery, the action director behind the opposition to BIAs, said the Freedom Party began its campaign last summer. It has been concentrating on the Golden Horseshoe area for the past two months. Oakville was the target last Saturday.

"About 80% of the employers and managers we contacted (in Oakville) had no reaction. There were others who were very much opposed to it. We want them to know that they are not alone. They have to convince council they want out. But that won't be easy because councils play into the BIA's hands," said Emery.

The pamphlet distributed by the Freedom Party highlights the Oakville downtown BIA. The downtown BIA, stretching on Lakeshore Road East from Allan to Navy Street between Church and Robinson, has been in operation since 1978. It boasts a membership of 285 businesses.

Emery said Oakville's BIA taxes are the most expensive in Ontario. According to the literature, the Oakville BIA taxed the businesses an average of $35 in 1978 and in 1986 the tax bill jumped to $617 per business. "By 1986, only eight years later, the budget was up to $176,274, a whopping increase of 43% each and every year," states the pamphlet.

It also states BIAs act like "dictatorships" which do not require input from its membership.

However, Julie Jelinek, the manager of the downtown BIA, said the pamphlet contains many distorted facts.

Jelinek stressed the Oakville BIA holds elections where every member has the opportunity to vote for the representatives who will sit on the Board of Management. The 12 representatives - including one town councillor - serve for a three-year term.

There are monthly board of management meetings, committee meetings and the membership is kept up-to-date with a printed newsletter.

As far as the budget goes, Jelinek said, the increases have been about 6% for the past three years: 1984, $147,724; 1985, $156,000; 1986, $165,350. The 1987 budget will be presented to council on Feb. 24 with an expected 6% increase in the BIA tax bill.

Last year, the Oakville BIA spent their money on: $58,250 for office salaries (two employees) and office supplies; $60,000 for promotions; $13,600 for parking; $17,000 for beautification; and, $24,424 for the streetscape.

"The budget is presented to the general membership and they have an opportunity to vote on it," explained Jelinek.

The process begins with the BIA drawing up a budget for the year. The town staff then strike a mill rate for the BIA, with the result that every commercial tax payer in the area pays a portion of the budget equal to his percentage of the total commercial assessment. This levy is on top of regular commercial realty taxes.

Jelinek is confident Emery and his Freedom Party will not sway the merchants in downtown Oakville to begin a drive to have Town Council abolish the BIA.