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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-11-21, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1990. The recession's depressing Now that we can finally officially use the word Recession and some economists and business leaders are already worrying we may qualify for the word Depression, we find that the new unemployment insurance plan pushed through by the federal government may leave many families in desperate trouble unless things turn around quickly. The current situation is exactly what unemployment insurance (UI) was designed to help. Every day there are announcements of more layoffs and plant closings as the combination of high interest rates, the recession and Free Trade devastate the Canadian economy. But at the same time as the situation gets worse for thousands of unemployed workers, a more stringent UI program is kicking in which makes it harder to qualify for UI and cuts off the benefits more quickly for those who do qualify. Ayearagowhenthe new regulations were brought in by the government they didn’t seem so threatening, at least in the prosperous centre of the country. Where people in perpetually impoverished areas like Newfoundland stood to lose, people in Ontario felt that those who really wanted to find work could find it under the shorter period (as little as 35 weeks total in Toronto) that would be in effect under the new bill. What a difference a year makes. Tod ay with things black and getting blacker, 35 weeks doesn’t seem very long for people to have a safety net before they’re thrown onto the welfare roles. There have been many people who have said we could never face a depression as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930’s again because of social safety nets like UI. Those UI payments put money in the pockets of even the unemployed so they could keep up some semblance of normal life and help us spend our way back to prosperity. Now that safety net doesn’t seem so strong. We face the possibility we could be in very deep trouble because of the unemployment cuts. In today’s inflated housing market, for instance, it usually requires two incomes in the family to keep up mortgage payments. If even one partner loses a job, and especially if UI runs out, it means the house is lost. If too many houses are lost, the bottom drops out of the market and even more houses will be lost because many people’s houses will be worth less than they paid for them. Once the snowball starts rolling, it’s hard to predict what may happen. Yes the UI cuts may have helped prevent the federal deficit from being even worse than it is but in the long run, the millions we saved may seem like pennies compared to the cost on the economy. Incremental action? Huron County Council earlier this month took a significant step toward having a county-wide waste manaement system, even as councillors were being assured that no real change was being made. The county voted to exercise the powers made available by recent provincial government changes that allow counties to take over waste management responsibilities. When Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle objected to the move, saying things were moving too fast without some answers as to how waste management would be financed, he was told no significant changes were being made yet; that councillors would later get to vote on whether or not the county should actually open a waste management facility. In the meantime, it was explained, it’s impossible to get estimates of cost and methods of financing without the county taking to itself the power to get into waste management. The arguments used by county officials were sound and yet there’s also the nagging feeling of the old camel in the tent syndrome. Like the came! that only asked for his head to be in the tent, then his neck and so on until the whole camel was in the tent and the camel owner was pushed out in the cold, county policy often seems to sneak in a little at a time until the first thing you know councillors are at the point of noreturn to have toapprove a new policy they may not have been in favour of at the time. Waste management bears that kind of stamp. First there was the approval of doing the study with a price tag of $200,000. Then there was the appointment of staff for the study and then the extension of staffing when the project took longer than expected to be completed. Now there’s the assumption of the power to operate waste management by the county. Nextwillbe a stage that identifies potential sites at which time county officials say they want to be able to talk to the landowners involved. Nearly everyone by now is resigned to the fact the county is going to have to get into waste management. What worries many municipalities with landfill sites that still have capacity left, is that they maybeforcedintojoining the new system when they don’t want to be. So far they have no assurance they won’t be or that they won’t end up supporting two waste management systems. Here’s hoping they don’t get caught in a place where they have no choice under the approval by incremental system. November stroll Mabel’s Grill There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel 's Grill where the greatest minds in the town [if not in the country] gather for morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Filibustering So­ ciety. Since not just everyone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. TUESDAY: Tim said he finds it interesting that the stores are now using the bad economy as a reason they should be allowed to stay open on Sundays. The stores are telling the new NDP government not to bring in Sunday closings or there will be more bankruptcies and stores closing seven days a week. “What I can never figure is how if people don’t have money to shop Monday to Saturday because of the recession, they suddenly have it on Sunday?’’ Maybe that’s the solution to the recession, Billie Bean suggested. “We just make seven Sundays in each week and we’ll all be prosper­ ous again.” And, Hank says, if we could just go back in time and bring in Sunday shopping we could pro­ bably have done away with the Great Depression. THURSDAY: Hank said it was interesting to see the reporters at the London Free Press settle their strike and go back to work. “Now they can go back to writing about how bad it is when everybody else goes on strike.” FRIDAY: Ward Black was saying the teachers must be relieved to see the biggest baby boom in 25 years to ensure they’re going to be kept in work for years. He was Continued on page 5 The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19.00/yr. [$40.00 Foreign]. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisment will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. BLUE ' RIBBON AWARD ♦CNA Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968