HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-04-22, Page 14Page A14 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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Huron expects drastic increase
in 2009 Ontario Works caseloads
sun media
The County of Huron is eyeing the possi-
bility of a 40 per cent increase in its Ontario
Works caseload this year.
In a report to the county's committee of
the whole April 14, Michele Gaynor, man-
ager of the Ontario Works program, reports
a shaky economy is rattling the chains of the
county's Ontario Works program.
"Yes, we are getting calls," she says, with
a report that shows while there were 441
county residents receiving Ontario Works
payments in December 2008, that number
jumped to 493 people in February.
One of the biggest surprises for the new-
ly or soon-to-be unemployed is the low
amount of monthly assistance available
through the program. Gaynor notes, as an
example, someone paying $700 per month
in rent alone is surprised to learn Ontario
Works pays out a total of between $500 and
$600 a month.
Those calls are queries and do not repre-
sent the caseload, says Gaynor.
Still, she says, "we will see those individ-
uals down the road when their Employment
Insurance ends."
As it stands, the county is seeing more
new cases each month, including 78 new
applications in January alone. Of those, 41
people were first-time applicants, and 41
per cent of the applicants are under the age
of 30.
Further, a study by the Huron Business
Development Corporation shows there are
25 per cent fewer advertised job postings
this year.
Gaynor says it is difficult to 'auge how
many county residents are collecting Em-
ployment Insurance since those statistics are
not available though a 7.1 per cent unem-
ployment rate has been reported in South-
western Ontario.
However, the county was able to track the
number of layoff notices at area businesses
Has Adoption
Touched Your Life?
On June 1, 2009, Ontario
adoption records will be opened.
visit www.ontario.ca/adoptioninfo
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT REMINDER that if you were involved in an adoption in Ontario, your information and
privacy rights are changing.
Effective June 1, 2009, Ontario adoption records will be opened. This means adopted adults and birth parents will
be given access to identifying information from birth records and adoption orders.
If thF adoption order was made before September 1, 2008, adopted adults and birth parents can file a disclosure veto
to pf, L » it the release of the information.
If you want your identifying information kelt private, you should file a disclosure veto before June 1, 2009.
No contact notices are also available.
To team more about your rights to information and privacy regarding adoption, visit www.ontarlo.ca/adoptioninfo
or call 1-800-461-2156 (TTY 416-325-3408).
Paid for by the Government of Ontario.
Ontario
and companies, says Gaynor. The report
reveals the following number of layoffs or
pending layoffs including: Dunline Rubber
Products (Huron Park), 36 people; CanGro
(Exeter), 130; Goderich Signal Star, 23; Vol-
vo (Goderich), 488; Wescast (Wingham),
213; CAP Products (Vanastra), 60; and
GNUTTI (Huron Park), 35. Outside of the
county, Campbell Soup of Listowel issued
500 layoff notices, Dana Corp. of St. Mary's
laid off 350 people, and Cooper Standard of
Stratford issued notices to 374 people.
With the available statistics, Gaynor is
forecasting Ontario Works caseloads could
go up 20 cases per month from now through
year-end.
"That is a worst-case scenario," she says.
The good news, says Gaynor, is the coun-
ty has properly budgeted for the situation.
"I think we are in line and things will be
OK," she says, though she acknowledges it
will likely become "harder and harder" to
move people into employment.
Thanks to a query by Coun. Tim Collyer
(Central Huron), councillors learned the
county is home to nine qualified Ontario
Works case managers, meaning it is unlike-
ly more staff will be needed to handle the
growing caseload.
That reality, says social -services director
Dave Overboe, is thanks to Gaynor's efforts
in encouraging the department to cross -train
all staff rather than just a handful as other
regions have done.
"I think it was a bit of vision on Michele's
part," says Overboe.
Life is not about
stuff: Clemons
Cheryl Heath
Sun Media
In a visit to St. Anne's Catholic Secondary
School in Clinton Friday, an event made possi-
ble by the Domestic Assault Prevention Team,
former Toronto Argonauts player and coach,
Michael 'Pinball' Clemons says knowing who
you are and recognizing the importance of
one's fellow man are the keys to success.
Indeed, Clemons, who led the Argonauts to
the Grey Cup championship in 2004, as well
as to divisional championships while a coach
up to 2007, says he left coaching for a simple
reason: It took too much time anyway from his
children.
Asa coach, he says, his No. 1 goal was team
building.
"The team is the foundation for ourselves as
people," he says. "A team is one. When you
talk about someone else, you talk about your-
self. You need to understand that. Mind what
you say. The great thing is when 1 build you
up, who do I build up? That's right., I build me
up"
The important thing to understand, he says,
is a team must be united and each memberof
it must understand that the team is not a whole
without each of its members.
"Any coach worth his salt knows coaches
don't win championships, teams do," he says.
See PINBALL, Page 32