The Citizen, 2001-10-24, Page 28conversation
Jody Black, a Blyth businessperson, spoke with the busi-
ness association's guest speaker, Catherine Swift, a gov-
ernment lobbyist, at the seminar held in Blyth last week.
(Keith Roulston photo)
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PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2001.
SBA speaker slams feds
in terms of discouraging employ-
ment". She said the government is
taking in far more than it needs to for
EI and in effect has been paying
down the debt using the premiums
collected from businesses and their
employees.
The EI fund needs a surplus of
about $10 billion in case of a reces-
sion, she said but the surplus in real-
ity is $40 billion.
Swift said less than 50 per cent of
the money paid in premiums goes to
unemployed people. Some of it goes
to parental benefits and employment
mum MSRP of $41,900.
Or $35,000 cash.
Only 1,500 of the $50 tickets will
be sold. Organizers are excited about
the prize line-up and are working
hard to sellout early.
"We have a larger organization this
year, thanks to Barb Middegaal,
Sharon Whitfield, Paul Cooke and
Darren Richmond joining the team.
We have great Early Bird prizes and
a very interesting grand prize", said
Steven Sparling, one_of the founders
of the Sweepstakes.
The Bulldogs WIN! WIN!
Sweepstakes was started in. 1998 by
Dwight Chalmers, Todd MacDonald,
Scott Stevenson and Steven
Sparling, all coaches in the Blyth
Minor Hockey system. Net proceeds
from the Sweepstakes established
the Blyth & District Community
Centre Capital Fund which will be
used to support the necessary
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher,..
When Catherine Swift, chief exec-
utive officer of the Canadian
Federation of Independent Business
meets Paul Martin next month, she'll
be asking the federal finance minis-
ter to reduce employment insurance
premiums.
Speaking at Blyth Memorial Hall
to 120 people at a dinner and semi-
nar sponsored by the Blyth Business
Association, SWift called EI "one of
the most punitive forms of taxation
Ticket sales in the third annual
Blyth Bulldogs WIN! WIN!
Sweepstakes are underway and the
first early bird bonus draw will be
held Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Blyth
and-District Community Centre. The
prize is 10 free sweepstakes tickets.
Other early bird draw bonus
prizes, include a Joe Thornton auto-
graphed, hockey stick; a framed auto-
graphed print; a pair of Leafs tickets;
a Steve Yzerman autographed hock-
ey helmet; and, a Team Canada 2002
jersey autographed by over 20 play-
ers, including Curtis Joseph, Mario
Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Martin
Brodeur — and the man in charge of
Canada's Olympic team, Wayne
Gretzky! Prizes are on display in the
window at Blyth Apothecary, Blyth.
The grand prize draw will be held
Christmas Day for a 2002 truck for
the 2002 pickup of the winner's
choice. That's right, the winner will
choose the make (Chevy, Dodge,
Ford or GMC), the model, the
options and the colour, to a maxi-
Hearing date set
A preliminary hearing was held at
last week's session to determine if
there is sufficient evidence to send a
Wingham couple to trial for the pos-
session and production of a narcotic
and the theft of electricity.
Thi Pham and Hoa Dang were
charged following a raid by officers
with the Wingham Police Service
earlier this year to a home on Carling
Terrace in Wingham at which numer-
ous marijuana plants were seized
with an estimated street value of
close to $450,000.
Wingham Police Chief Jim Dore
said a pre-trial hearing has been slat-
ed for Nov. 13 in Goderich. As trial
by judge and jury has been selected,
it could be the spring before the mat-
ter goes to trial, says the chief.
programs. "EI has become a great
slush fund," she said. This pot of
money is used for whatever the issue
of the day'is, she claimed.
Martin is pleased to take credit for
getting rid of the deficit earlier than
promised, but the amount of money
needed to do that is about exactly the
surplus the government has. been
raking in in El.
Because the surplus has been used
for debt reduction, if there was a
recession the government would
have to cut programs in order to
meet EI payouts, she said. "I don't
think the government would have the
guts to raise EI premiums," said
Swift, who spent much of the
evening bashing the federal govern-
ment.
CFIB has been arguing EI pre-
miums should even out income and
expense, Swift said.
Swift argued that the country's
change in attitude since the' Sept. 11
terrorist attacks presented a unique
opportunity to change the policy
environment in Ottawa to convince
the government the best path is
based on an entrepreneurial basis for
social and economic programs. On a
world-wide basis Canadians are neck
and neck with Americans with entre-
preneurial attitude, she said but
Canada's entrepreneurs had to fight
against the vested interests of politi-
cians and big business.
Swift claimed "There's a lot of dis-
agreement (with current government
policies) simmering under the sur-
face in Ottawa."
On a positive note, Swift said con-
tact with the nearly 100,000 mem-
bers of CFIB showed sales had
remained remarkably strong since
the Sept. 11 tragedy.
improvements at the arena in the
near future. The first two draws
raised approximately $35,000.
Those improvements are urgently
needed, according to Todd
MacDonald (who is also chairman of
the Heart and Soul campaign which
will co-ordinate fundraising initia-
tives in support of renovations and
improvements at the arena and com-
munity centre — facilities which to
many are the heart and soul of the
community).
"The leaks in the ice pad and a
variety of related problems made
start-up very difficult this year. We
are fortunate the ice is in, but it
would be naive to ignore.these prob-
lems any longer", said MacDonald.
For more information, contact one
of the organizers or call the 24-hour
tickets line at 523-4256, extension
29. Cash, cheque, VISA or
MasterCard accepted.
Dogs' early bird draw, Saturday