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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPresentation - Resolution Proposed by Waterloo Regional Labour Ten Minute Thank you Mayor Zehr and Councillors As you are well aware the country and this community is in a recession that has been recognized to be more devastating than any other since the 1930s While there has been much talk of stimulus dollars flowing here there and everywhere, none of that has directly helped the constituents of this area. The federal government has to fix Employment Insurance now - not next fall or winter. I want to reassure you that your taxpayers are going to get an even worse whack in the coming months. Ontario Works will be the only alternative assistance available to all of those desperate unemployed people. The 30% of your constituents that are approved to receive EI benefits will have those benefits cease in the coming months. Although these people have paid into this Insurance scheme, they are limited by legislation from receiving the maximum benefits due to the historic employment rate in this zone. Our previous relatively low unemployment rate limits the numbers of week’s coverage, and the number of qualifying hours needed to be accepted for EI. The majority of those people will receive a maximum of 27 weeks benefits and need between 700 and 910 hours to qualify. The seventy percent of persons that do not qualify for EI have been eliminated due to the number of hours required to qualify. This number of hours worked is also legislated and our citizens are required to have an amount of hours worked that by far exceeds most of the rest of the country. In most of the rest of Canada 44% of the applicants are not qualified, in this zone 70% of the applicants don’t qualify due to reasons I just mentioned. Best of all what we are proposing will not cost Local Government one shinny nickel. It is the federal government that has to fix Employment Insurance now. An improved Employment Insurance program would provide a better stimulus to the economy than anything the federal government has tried so far. We know that unemployed people spend every dollar that they receive directly in the local community. Improving EI is clearly the best way to kick start the economy. ç ó ï The actual dollars received from EI today is less than the actual dollars received by someone unemployed in the previous economic downturn. Today recipients receive 50% of their earning as compared to 66% back then. This government can't seem to get its infrastructure projects off the ground but it could stimulate the economy overnight by improving EI benefits. A recent decision by the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader to create yet another committee to study EI is a mistake. We already know what has to be done and putting off changes for months will only hurt unemployed people and their families in this Community,. Many people who lost their jobs last fall have already used up their EI benefits. They are going to end up on social assistance and at food banks here in our own backyard. Let me be very clear here, the EI system that is in place now, during this economic disaster will indeed put many of our citizens in financial hardship. The poverty rate in this region will increase. We must remember that without EI or after EI benefits are finished, the person will need to use up all except $2,500 of their assets before they can apply for Ontario Works (OW). We have put together a few articles taken from local newspapers that relate to poverty, job loss, employment insurance, and Ontario Works. One such article quotes Gail Kaufman Carlin, the acting regional commissioner of social services, as saying “it is encouraging to see the number in welfare cases not rising as quickly as it did in the winter”. But she said the region is waiting to see what will happen once people have exhausted employment-insurance benefits. If they can't find work, they could be the next group of people needing social assistance. "She thinks that is what we are going to see in the next few months, but it hasn't happened yet,'' "We will just have to wait and see what happens.'' The region had budgeted for a monthly welfare caseload of 6,400. This higher number of cases means the region could exceed its welfare budget by as much as $3.9 million this year alone. Last month, the number of welfare cases rose by 138 cases over May, for a total of 8,073 cases. That's a 1.7 per cent jump in one month, and a 26.7 per cent hike since June 2008. The region's unemployment rate for June remained at 9.9 per cent, unchanged from May. The monthly increase in welfare cases of 1.7 per cent is substantially less than the highest percentage increase this year of 4.8 per cent in March. This downward trend started in April with a 2.9 per cent increase, followed by a 2.4 per cent increase in May. ç ó î The bad news is the number of welfare cases continues to increase in Waterloo Region. The good news is last month's increase in caseload was the lowest so far this year. Another one of the articles discusses the increase in the number of people accessing the food banks in this region. There is a growing consensus that EI must be improved. Our recommendations have been supported by numerous municipalities in Ontario. They include such diverse communities such as London, Hamilton, Markham, Vaughan, Peterborough, Peel, and many others. The federal government has to fix Employment Insurance now - not next fall or winter. We want this community, the City of Kitchener, to call upon the Government of Canada to introduce the following changes to the Employment Insurance system: 1) 360 hours to qualify for EI benefits in all regions of Canada; 2) Increase benefit duration to at least 50 weeks in all regions, - Provide an additional year of “special extension” benefits if national unemployment exceeds 6.5%, paid from federal general revenues; - Extend EI Part 1 benefits while a worker is on approved training; 3) Increase benefits to at least 60% of normal earnings, using workers’ 12 best weeks, and raise the maximum, suspend the allocation of severance pay and eliminate the two-week waiting period Once again thank you for having us here today. Please take the time to read some of the consolidated collection of recent newspaper articles pertaining to this issue. ç ó í Proposed Resolution submitted by the Waterloo Regional Labour Council Re: Employment Insurance changes WHEREAS a healthy unemployment insurance system is the most powerful of all economic stabilizers and in the recessions of the early 80’s and 90’s, UI prevented deeper, longer downturns and reduced the shock of job and GDP losses; WHEREAS we have entered this new economic crisis with a much weaker EI system that provides only half of the coverage it did in the last recession because fewer workers qualify and benefit weeks are reduced; WHEREAS the federal government stopped contributing to EI and diverted EI premiums to other spending ($54 billion between 1994 and 2007); WHEREAS even the U.S. government has shown leadership through major improvements in the duration of UI benefits and a universal benefit top-up as part of a stimulus package to deal with the crisis; WHEREAS there will be a negative fiscal impact on all municipalities if residents are unable to access EI benefits or otherwise maintain incomes during this economic downturn, due to the increased reliance on locally provided social programs, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Kitchener call upon the Government of Canada to introduce the following changes to the Employment Insurance system: 1) 360 hours to qualify for EI benefits in all regions of Canada; 2) Increase benefit duration to at least 50 weeks in all regions: - provide an additional year of “special extension” benefits if national unemployment exceeds 6.5%, paid from federal general revenues; - extend EI Part 1 benefits while a worker is in approved training; 3) Increase benefits to at least 60% of normal earnings, using workers’ 12 best weeks, and raise the maximum, suspend the allocation of severance pay and eliminate the two-week waiting period. ç ó ì EI – Poverty A consolidation of recent newspaper reports from around the Region ç ó ë Cambridge Times News Items No indication recession over in Cambridge By Ray Martin, Times Staff Jul 30, 2009 Bank of Canada may be reporting that the country has turned the corner on recession, but there’s no indication in Cambridge. “Right now it would be pretty accurate to say the situation is status quo,” said Hardy Bromberg, the city’s chief building official. The director of building and enforcement services does not foresee home construction in Cambridge picking up in the second half of this year. “We won’t make the 2008 year-end numbers,” he said. Last year, the city had issued 1,500 permits on 610 units. Most of those permits were issued in the new Mattamy Homes subdivision in east Hespeler. Bromberg puts that growth spurt down to pent-up demand in the market over the last two years. “Don’t get me wrong. We aren’t doing badly this year, but its nothing to jump up and down about,” he said. According to June’s monthly building report, 21 permits were issued for new homes, with a construction value of $20.3 million. By comparison, in June 2008, 24 permits were issued with a construction value of $5.4 million. The year-to-date housing figures show that 130 permits were issued in the first half of 2009 worth $45.5 million. That’s up significantly from last year when 47 permits were issued in the first half of 2008 ($10 million). So far this year, 554 permits have been issued for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional projects with a construction value of $108 million. That compares to 2008, where 590 permits were issued with a value of $67.1 million. Bromberg said June figures have been bolstered by Waterscape on the Grand condominiums project –115 units being built during the first phase. July figures will be bumped by permits being issued on the 66-unit Heartwood Place apartment on Ainslie Street –the former Cambridge Reporter building. Over the last two decades, the city has averaged 700 new home starts annually. But subdivision construction is in for a big change. “What we will be seeing is more intensification in the urban areas,” said Bromberg. “There’ll be more apartments, more row houses, and more second-and third-storey additions to existing homes.” While demand for new homes might have been met, the recession and federal tax breaks could lead to a surge in home renovations, Bromberg said. “We have a lot of people coming to the front counter asking questions about whether they need permits for installing new carpet and painting. They don’t, but we are glad to see they are thinking about getting permits for the work being done,” he said. 2 ç ó ê Economic recession showing up at food bank Feb 19, 2009 By Ray Martin, Times Staff News The face of Canada's economic recession is showing up at the front door of the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank. Last June, food bank officials distributed 773 emergency food hampers. Last month, that number had doubled to 1,341. Each month, more than 600 children are fed through the food bank’s emergency food program. The number of families accessing emergency food –who have recently become unemployed – has increased from 24 families in September to 41 families in December. However, the organization was assisted this month when 3,800 pounds of food was collected during the 10th annual Tim Hortons food drive. “We are very grateful for their help,” said food bank executive director Pat Singleton. “Their help is invaluable to us.” The food bank is now preparing for its next big effort to restock the shelves as their client lists continues to expand. “As we prepare for the Easter food drive (starting April 3), we are aware more than before of the need for support for our families,” said Singleton, “yet we are confident that once again this year our community will continue to care and share.” We need to create jobs Letters May 15, 2009 There is no new economy. There is only one economy with many sectors, and when some of them under perform, it is unbalanced. Forestry, farming, manufacturing and tourism have been decimated. Our economy is unbalanced. You cannot focus only on high tech industries. There must be jobs for people of all skill levels. Waterloo Region is the highest technical area in Canada, but has the third highest unemployment rate. You cannot add government jobs while losing the tax base supporting them. We have lost private sector jobs, and allowed foreign owners to take over and close industries such as steel making. An economy only exporting non-renewable resources is too singular. Alberta has gone through boom and bust with swings in the price of oil. An economy needs to be balanced to be stable. We have to fix this economy. We have to create jobs for Canadians in all sectors. How can this be done? Print money. Printing money devalues the dollar. A low dollar provides a huge advantage. For the auto industry, it makes up the gap between building cars here versus the United States. 3 ç ó é New money could go to transportation and power generation improvements which help everyone. It could go to health care to provide new hospital rooms, doctors, and nurses. Printed money spent like this cycles almost 100 per cent through the Canadian economy. The downsides? Trips abroad cost more, but you’ll have a job to pay for going there. Inflation could increase, but that won’t happen while the world economy is in poor shape. How do you make this happen? Talk to your friends and neighbours. Every person who thinks this is a good idea should call and email their MP, their MPP, and the offices of the prime minister, the minister of finance and the premier of Ontario. Organized labour should ask every member to take up this task. The cure for the Canadian economy rests in your hands. David Hartig, Cambridge Summer job hunt to be fierce competitionTraditional youth job fair attracts more adults By Ray Martin, Times Staff Business Mar 20, 2009 Tough times and good weather resulted in Cambridge Career Connections (CCC) posting possibly its best attended summer job fair ever. More than 600 job seekers of all ages attended Wednesday’s job fair to meet 19 employers looking to hire summer positions. “You should have been here at 1 p. m. We had them lined up right down Ainslie Street, “ said connections manager Holt Sivak. Even at 2 p. m., the parking lot was packed and there was still a line up of people trying to get in the door at 40 Ainslie St. S. “It’s sort of a sign of the times. The number of employers participating is down slightly, but number of job seekers is way up,” Sivak said. “This year we are seeing a lot more adult job seekers, and who can blame them? The problem is that if they take the student jobs, the students don’t gain job experience, which will hurt them in the long run.” While Waterloo Region is now faced with a 9.1 per cent unemployment rate, Sivak said the jobless rate among youth is much higher. “You can usually figure it’s about five per cent more than the adult rate, so we are estimating it to be about 14.2 per cent,” he said. Sivak said another reason for the large number of students turning out is the realization that competition for summer work this year will be fierce. “They realize it is going to be a struggle this year to find that summer job and many are starting to look for jobs now,” he said. 4 ç ó è ClosetMaid on shelf; closing doors next June Apr 18, 2008 By Ray Martin Business Cambridge's unemployment line is about to get a little longer as the city's manufacturing sector takes another hit. ClosetMaid Corporation, located at 25 Cherry Blossom Rd., has announced that it will be packing up shop here and moving 500 jobs south of the border by next June. The company plans on moving production to facilities in the United States and Mexico. Employees were given the bad news Wednesday. The soaring Loonie and the housing crisis in the U.S. are cited as reasons for the closure. Cambridge MPP Gerry Martiniuk is quick to point to the failure of the McGuinty goverment to support Ontario's ailing manufacturing in the aftermath of Wednesday's annoucement. "The McGuinty government has washed its hands of our manufacturing plants and said they are powerless to preserve the manufacturing jobs in Ontario," he said in a press release. "Even the defeatist retraining program recently announced in the budget covers only 20,000 workers; the remaining 180,000 are left to their own defences." Workers at ClosetMaid will be joining the ranks of some 200,000 Ontario residents who have been laid off from manufacturing jobs in the past two years. The Canadian Auto Workers Union estimates that 7,800 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Waterloo Region since 2002. "I know I join all the citizens of Cambridge and our region in consoling the workers who have lost their jobs," Martiniuk said. ClosetMaid is a leading manufacturer or home storage and organization products. Economy adding pressure to social safety net Jan 15, 2009 By Ray Martin, Times Staff Keepers of the social safety net are going to need as much help as they can get as the fallout from economic recession continues to make itself felt. At a special meeting of council Monday, city officials heard from representatives of The Bridges, homeless shelter, Cambridge Self- Help Food Bank, Argus Residence for Young Males, two neighbourhood associations, and the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries. Executive director Pat Singleton reported that the food bank is holding its own, thanks to the generosity of the community. But, the number of people accessing its services and the cost of the basic food supplied is increasing. Food bank officials have seen a 48 per cent increase in the cost of pasta, 16 per cent rise in the cost of bread and eight per cent increase in the cost of milk. Meanwhile, 7,400 jobs were lost in Waterloo Region in 2007 and 21,700 in 2008. In addition, 500 jobs will be lost when Closet Maid closes in June. 5 ç ó ç “There is a significant and persistent demand for affordable housing. That, along with the increases in basic food, energy, water and rent, is a strong factor which increases the number of Cambridge and area residents to our food bank,” Singleton said. One of the biggest challenges facing the growing jobless population is accessing federal employment insurance benefits. “In 1990, approximately two thirds of Ontarians who found themselves out of work, qualified for employment benefits. Today, less than one third of persons out of work in Ontario qualify for EI (employment insurance) and those who do, easily wait four-to-six weeks for benefits to start,” Singleton said. Given the lag time in receiving EI benefits, Singleton said one way the city could help is deferring tax payments until an individual's EI benefits start or they get back to work. Another way is to lobby the federal government to expedite EI payments. At The Bridges, executive director Anne Tinker said her facility is dealing with older occupants. “For the first time we had eight clients over their 70s,” she said.” We are also seeing more women and more people over 50.” Tinker said a growing number of people are arriving at The Bridges with mental issues like dementia. She said her shelter is taking in more of the overflow from Waterloo Region’s other homeless shelters. Apartment conversion to condominiums is reducing the availability of affordable housing, resulting in longer stays for families and individuals at The Bridges. The vacancy rate for one and two bedroom apartments now stands at 1.8 per cent. Tinker urged council to lobby for more affordable housing. Tinker and Singleton also urged council to establish public washrooms in the downtown cores. Linda Terry, speaking on behalf of the social planning council said with the unemployment rate now at 7.7 per cent “employment insurance is badly broken”. She noted that of the 54 per cent of people eligible for the program, only 31 per cent are getting benefits and many workers don't qualify at all. All of the agencies involved in special meeting praised council for being proactive and doing what it can to support the social safety net. 6 ç ó ïð Workers forced to seek welfare FRANCES BARRICK May 09, 2009 RECORD STAFF Laid-off workers waiting to get their employment insurance benefits continue to drive up welfare rates in Waterloo Region. This group accounts for up to 20 per cent of welfare recipients, said Mike Schuster, Waterloo Region's commissioner of social services. "We continue to have people waiting for employment insurance," Schuster said yesterday. Last month, the number of welfare cases rose by 223 over March, for a total of 7,748 cases. That's a 2.9 per cent jump in one month and a 21 per cent hike since April 2008. Changes in employment insurance rules make it more difficult for people to get these benefits, David Dirks, director of employment and income support for the region, told regional councillors last month. In some cases, people wait for up to eight weeks in order to receive their benefits, Dirks said. In the interim, these people receive social assistance from the region to financially tie them over, and that money is repaid once employment insurance kicks in. "It would be nice if they could bypass us and go straight to EI," Dirks told councillors. Earlier this year, people moving to the region in hopes of finding work were a major contributor to rising welfare rates. But Schuster said this group of people on social assistance seems to be levelling off, which means fewer people are moving here looking for work. He said he's not surprised about the rising welfare numbers considering the local unemployment rate of 10.1 per cent. "We think things are going to continue to increase for us, unfortunately," Schuster said. Traditionally, unemployment rates drop in the spring and summer when seasonal work such as construction and farming becomes available. Schuster said it will be interesting to see if this trend continues this year. Last month, regional council received a staff report indicating that a $10-million reserve which council set aside to cover rising welfare costs may have to provide as much as $4.7 million to cover this increased cost. In 1994, the number of regional welfare cases hit a record of just over 18,000. 7 ç ó ïï Region has gone from feast to famine Mar 17, 2009 By Cambridge Times Editorial Within a year, Waterloo Region has gone from feast to famine. Last fall, officials from the Conference Board of Canada told Cambridge council and local business leaders they were setting the example for the rest of Canada. Now, local unemployment has reached 9.1 per cent and 25,500 workers are idle. We’re sitting in the middle of the economic hurricane, partly based on the region’s heavy manufacturing base. Our traditional success has not just stalled, but plummeted. We now face the third highest unemployment rate in Canada. Even Toyota has let go of contract workers and suspended its highly successful plant tours. Companies will have to reinvent themselves to be a part of the new economy, whatever that is. Workers will have to do the same. Area universities and colleges are being held up as potential saviors in these dark times, offering retraining programs and assistance to companies doing research and development. But all this takes time –time which many workers and companies don’t have. Despite the assurances of Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the recession will be shortened because of our banking system and better financial position, Waterloo Region residents will not see their lot improve until the United States starts buying our products again. In the meantime, companies and workers are going to have be even more resourceful and innovative. Additional 1,000 families seeking welfare Region experiencing 18 per cent increase so far in 2009 Apr 24, 2009 By Greg Macdonald, Times Staff News The Region of Waterloo has seen an 18 per cent increase in the number of residents seeking welfare in the first months of 2009. That amounts to 1,000 new families seeking assistance from the Ontario Works program, which is funded by the regional and provincial governments. Those extra cases have already put the region's welfare allotment $378,000 over budget. But the municipality is prepared to deal with the extra costs, said Coun. Sean Strickland, chair of the community services committee. “We've planned for this. We have been aware this could come given the nature of the economy,” he said. The extra funding for 2009 will come from the tax rate stabilization fund. That fund is the contingency for budget overruns, Strickland said. In previous economic downturns, budget overruns meant service cuts. 8 ç ó ïî “Previously municipal governments have had to raise taxes or defer spending on other projects. But because we've gone through recessions in the '80s and '90s we've set aside money . . . we are in a good position,” Strickland said. The question is how long that position can last. While the region can handle the extra caseloads in 2009, if the recession continues, it could put pressure on the municipality. As of March, the number of caseloads that the region was handling was 7,500. That's a significant increase over the 6,200 in the same time frame in 2008. But it's a far cry from the 18,000 cases that the region dealt with in the early 1990s. If the number of cases rises to those levels, all bets are off, Strickland said. “The real question mark is where this recession is going. We aren't projected to go '90s levels, but we won't know the circumstances until September probably,” he said. In the meantime, the extra caseloads have already caused some delays in service. While the standard procedure is for face-to-face interviews to occur within four days of an application, waits have been as long as nine days. The region could bolster its Employment and Income Support staff. A committee report recommended adding eight full-time equivalent staff if the demand for welfare continues to grow. The region wants half of those costs covered by the province. Welfare rates continue to rise in May Jun 18, 2009 News Welfare caseloads are continuing to rise in Waterloo Region as the municipality in May saw a 25 per cent increase over last year’s numbers. The total number of cases is pushing 8,000 as the economic recession continues to put pressure on the region’s welfare budget. In May 2008, the number of cases was closer to 6,300. The region has already dipped into its reserves to cover the extra cases. They’ve withdrawn $800,000 from the tax stabilization fund. Waterloo Region also had a higher unemployment rate in May than the provincial average, at 9.9 per cent compared locally to 9.4 per cent in Ontario. Though the number of welfare cases has gone up over every month in 2009, the increases are getting smaller, said Michael Schuster, commissioner of social services. “Hopefully that’s a trend that will continue,” he said. With some small signs of economic rebound, council can be cautiously optimistic, said Coun. Sean Strickland. “Hopefully the green chutes of the economy continue to sprout and that’s reflected in the welfare rates,” he said. 9 ç ó ïí New Hamburg Independent Stories Economy impacting local workers Apr 01, 2009 By Doug Coxson, Independent Staff News The worldwide economic downturn is taking its toll on this area’s manufacturing sector. Dozens of workers from local companies now count themselves among the ranks of Waterloo Region’s unemployed, as Riverside Brass and Ontario Drive and Gear feel the pinch of the global recession and slumping demand from Canada’s closest trading partner. Riverside Brass handed layoff notices to 44 people in January and another 40 earlier this month, nine of which were either administrative workers or supervisors. Some employees received temporary layoff notices with call backs required at 35- weeks, while others received the permanent layoff notice of up to 52 weeks with recall rights within 12 months. Company president Dave Seyler said Riverside Brass has been reduced to one shift and will likely shut down its Hamilton Road facility entirely in the coming weeks as demand for its niche product — fire system sprinkler heads — dries up until late May. Seyler said the company’s remaining workforce will operate between its Hamilton Road and Waterloo Street facilities where the foundry manufactures various metal components. The company is also applying for work share in the event the situation worsens. Riverside Brass produces various metal castings for industrial use in its New Hamburg foundry. The majority of its products are manufactured for US customers for use in residential and commercial applications. About 75 per cent of the company’s sales are to the US. At its peak, the company was producing up to 3 million sprinkler heads a month and employing close to 150 people. Seyler said in the wake of the economic downturn, production has been cut to about 65 per cent, meaning the company’s normal delivery of 250,000 pieces per week has been slashed to less than 50,000 a week as its customers work through their inventories. It’s been a rough couple of years for the New Hamburg company. In late 2007 Riverside Brass was struggling through en economic storm of a different sort as Canada’s red hot economy bolstered the loonie to record highs and forced its US customers to look elsewhere. “We came through that challenge and then the economy shifted in the US,” Seyler said. Hopeful a turnaround will come soon, Seyler said there are a few bright lights on the horizon for Riverside Brass. The company could see a surge in demand next year to meet a possible January 2011 deadline when all new residential homes in the US are expected to require fire sprinkler systems. 10 ç ó ïì Lawmakers have yet to bring that proposed legislation online, but Seyler says the signs look promising. In the meantime, the company is hopeful an expected turnaround in the economy will allow them to rehire within the year. “Our hope is to get our people back because there’s a lot of dollars invested,” Seyler said. “They are your best and most important assets because of their training skill and experience.” New Hamburg gear, transmission and all-terrain vehicle manufacturer Ontario Drive and Gear was also forced to downsize its workforce in recent weeks. Most of the company’s staff is now on Workshare, which eliminates one or two days from the schedule, while keeping most of the staff employed. Management has also undergone a salary reduction starting with company president Joerg Steiber on down. Talking Tuesday afternoon, Steiber said the current recession is unlike anything the 40- year-old company has ever experienced. Just last June ODG reported its best quarter in its corporate history, followed by a third quarter that remained strong. Then Argo sales dropped suddenly in November when US customers stopped buying. The company’s Canadian customers remained stable through December as overseas business began to suffer. With 30 per cent of the company’s customer base is in the US, and the remaining sales in Canada and overseas, the economic slump has impacted ODG’s retail vehicle and gear division differently. Demand for the gear division dropped slightly in December, but by January and February “every piece of news was bad news,” Steiber said. The company shed about 20 employees through layoffs and placed 85 per cent of their remaining 180 employees on the workshare program. Steiber lauds the government program that allows manufacturers to reduce the number of hours an employee works while providing employment insurance benefits to make up a portion of the difference. Workshare provides flexibility for the company and the employer, allowing them to take advantages of opportunities as they come along. “For the employee it keeps them in the game, so they don’t sit around at home for extended times,” Steiber said. The company president wouldn’t speculate on what the future holds for ODG, but said some of their exports to China are going well and are picking up in other areas, including Canadian retail sales. Recent participation in the Toronto Sportsman Show proved promising as the company sold an Argo right off the floor. Steiber said the gloom of the recession wasn’t apparent among the crowds who attended the show. Last month the unemployment rate in Waterloo Region rose to 9.1 per cent, giving this area the third highest jobless numbers in Canada behind Windsor and St. Catharines, according to a recent Statistics Canada report. 11 ç ó ïë On Tuesday, Stats Can released details on the rapid rise in the number of Canadians collecting regular employment insurance benefits. The number of regular EI beneficiaries climbed by 104,000, or 22.8 per cent since February of last year. Over half the rise occurred in Ontario. The largest increases between January 2008 and January 2009 occurred in Southwestern Ontario, where the manufacturing sector experienced heavy layoffs. In Windsor, Stats Can reports the number of regular beneficiaries rose 81.6 per cent to 10,600. Also affected were London with an increase of 70.3 per cent, Kitchener up 70 per cent, and Hamilton up 69 per cent, along with Guelph, Woodstock, Tillsonburg and Stratford. lmira Independent News Items E Elmira’s food bank has empty shelves Published - Jul 3rd, 2009 By Gail Martin Weekender Editor It’s a tough time of year for the Elmira food bank — the Easter food drive is a distant memory, while the Thanksgiving food drive is months away. In the meantime, however, people still need to eat. Mary Visneskie, who manages the local food bank, said that they need a “little bit of everything.” This includes some basic pantry staples, such as flour, salt, sugar, to crackers and biscuits, along with snacks for children who are now out of school. “Kids are out of school, and that means the cupboards are going to be opened more often,” said Visneskie. “We still need juice boxes for the kids.” While donations still come in from area churches, there is usually a decline in the summer months, as more people are away from their regular congregation. That, combined with the fact that few people think of the food bank in the summer, means that empty shelves are the norm, rather than the exception. Visneskie has also visited the larger Waterloo Region food bank in Kitchener, in hopes of replenishing some areas of need. When they went, looking for some frozen meat, they found very little. “We came back with 17 lbs. of ham, that’s it,” said Visneskie. Since few donations are coming in, food bank staff and volunteers have had to go to local stores to make purchases of a variety of items, including toiletries, which are not often thought of by donors. “People don’t think of it as part of a food hamper, but you do need these things,” said Visneskie. “You may be poor, you may be out of work, but you still want to stay clean.” In fact, added Visneskie, if you are job hunting, basic toiletries are more than a luxury — they are a necessity. “If you are job hunting, you want to make a good impression.” The food bank is also looking for canned fruit and canned meat — although they would prefer if donors not drop off canned pineapple, something they have in abundance. Kraft Dinner can also be skipped. “We always have KD,” said Visneskie. Use of the food bank has stayed steady over last year, in spite of the continuing economic recession. Still, that may be, in part, to the fact that residents don’t always know there is a food bank in Elmira. “I don’t know how to get the word out,” said Visneskie. 12 ç ó ïê Donations can be brought in to Woolwich Community Services, at 73 Arthur St. S., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or at No Frills or Foodland grocery stores in town. At No Frills on July 18, the Nerds on Site will be holding a one-day food drive to “Fill the Beetle to Feed the People.” That event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The previous food drive, held in January, netted 12,631 lbs. of food and $158.56 in donations. For more information on the food bank, or to access its services, Editorial - Tough times are times to care Published - Dec 1st, 2008 By It’s not easy, in this worsening economy, to keep our spirits up. Everywhere, the news is dire — job cuts, losses on the stock market, and the expectation that more businesses (including our Big 3 auto manufacturers) will be going the way of the do-do. Some economists are not even hinting at recession anymore — some are actually suggesting a depression is on the way. We have seen how global our economy is; with the economic meltdown continuing in the United States, the pain has rapidly spread across the border. Whether we call it downsizing, restructuring, or anything else, the truth is simple — harsh economic times are painful and costly, particularly for those who are “restructured.” When we hear of dire economic times like this, it is easy to want to hunker down, save our pennies, and make sure that our immediate needs are met. While this is, of course, necessary, we hope that those of us who have the means to do so will also take the time to think of those who are less fortunate. Those who have lost a job in recent weeks will be finding this Christmas more difficult than most. For those of us who are still employed, it is our duty and obligation to do what we can to help those in need. Most of us can spare a can of food, for the local food bank. Most of us can spare $5, for the Christmas Goodwill Program. And, we can all take the time to call our friends who have lost jobs, and make sure they are okay. These are practical, tangible ways we can show we care; these are practical, tangible ways to make a difference. For those who are financially strapped themselves, volunteering is a great way of lending a helping hand — and a great way of keeping perspective in a difficult time. No matter how bad you have it, you can pretty well guarantee someone has it worse. Helping those in need is a good way to remember this. Woolwich Community Services, which operates the Christmas Goodwill Program, is always in need of volunteers for the Christmas season (as well as throughout the year, for its many worthwhile programs.) To sign up as a volunteer, call 519-669-5139 or drop by the Woolwich Community Services office. The hampers will be filled Tuesday, Dec. 16 and Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008 at Lions Hall, on South Street in Elmira. Last year, a total of 127 families received Christmas hampers. We can only guess how many will need them this year. The character of a society is seen in how it supports the weakest members of its community. Knowing Elmira as we do, we expect that these needs, and others, will be handily met — recession or not. 13 ç ó ïé Kitchener Waterloo Record Stories Canada escaping recession, slowly JULIAN BELTRAME June 25, 2009 THE CANADIAN PRESS Canada is coming out of recession but headed for little or no growth next year, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says. The new outlook was seen as mildly good news, even though the OECD's new numbers are actually gloomier than World Bank projections that sent stock markets tumbling Monday. Along with Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney's increasingly cautious statements, the new report adds another brush-stroke to the emerging picture of the near-term future as one characterized by weak or no growth, but no catastrophe either. "Thanks to firm action to stimulate our economies, it appears that we have escaped the worst during this crisis,'' said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria. The recovery is likely to be weak and fragile in most industrialized countries, although it will be stronger in emerging economies like China. The U.S. is projected to grow by 0.9 per cent, half of what the World Bank's so-called "gloomy" forecast estimated, while Canada's advance will be even more timid at 0.7 per cent. "If there's such a thing as a growthless recovery, this is it,'' said Bank of Nova Scotia economist Derek Holt. "The OECD is the only one of the three (international forecasters) to offer advice to the Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) in saying rates should be on hold until 2011. I have considerable sympathy for this perspective''. The U.S. central bank came close to such a commitment yesterday afternoon, saying "economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.'' One critical brake on ongoing growth, said Holt in an interview, is the low volume of borrowing by businesses and consumers, particularly in the United States, despite low interest rates and improved availability of credit. The OECD report -- while it represents the first time in two years the Paris-based organization representing 30 advanced countries has actually revised its outlook upwards -- still remains among the most pessimistic of major forecasters. The 0.7 per cent growth projection for Canada next year is well below the consents of private sector economists, which see an advance of about two per cent. The Bank of Canada projects growth to rebound to 2.5 per cent in 2010. "This is an improvement over OECD's previous forecast, but it is still more pessimistic than everyone else,'' said TD Bank economist Richard Kelly. 14 ç ó ïè Ontario skirts technical recession January 10, 2009The Canadian Press ROMINA MAURINO Ontario's economy managed to skirt a recession with a slight bounce in the third quarter amid warnings that a contraction is looming due to rising unemployment and difficult global conditions. The province's gross domestic product grew by 0.1 per cent in the July to September period, following a 0.2 per cent increase the previous quarter -- a small boost that means the province continues to avoid a technical recession. "This is a very glass half-full, half-empty sort of outcome,'' said senior TD Bank economist Craig Alexander. "What it tells us is the Ontario economy was very weak but it did manage to avoid a contraction.'' "There's been a lot of challenges from an industry point of view with significant job losses in manufacturing,'' Alexander said. The unemployment rate "is running sixth-10ths of a percentage point above the national average, and what that tells you is that Ontario is feeling the brunt of the economic weakness.'' TD is forecasting flat growth for the province in 2008 and a 0.5 per cent drop for the fourth quarter. For 2009, Alexander expects Ontario's economy to shrink by 1.8 per cent. "We will see the Ontario economy experiencing a contraction because the Canadian economy overall is in the midst of a recession,'' he said. Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan wasn't available to comment yesterday, but has said he is more worried about a long period of slow growth than a recession. Premier Dalton McGuinty has warned of tough times ahead as the province faces its first deficit in years and struggles to work its way out of its newly acquired have-not status. Massive job losses in Ontario's key manufacturing sector and dwindling revenues have left the province staring down a $500-million deficit, which could balloon amid a bailout package for struggling automakers. Opposition leaders say unless McGuinty's government comes up with an effective plan soon, things could get much worse. "I think everyone recognizes that the September to December was much, much worse because there was a loss of literally tens of thousands of jobs,'' said NDP Leader Howard Hampton. "What it says to me is the job situation is getting much worse, Ontario's economy is getting much worse and we've yet to see any kind of jobs plan, any kind of jobs stimulus package from the McGuinty government.'' 15 ç ó ïç Dalsa blames recession for drop MATT WALCOFF May 01, 2009 RECORD STAFF Dalsa Corp. blamed the recession yesterday for a 65.8 per cent decline in first-quarter earnings and 30 per cent per cent drop in revenue. The Waterloo company earned $1.3 million, or seven cents per share, in the three months ending March 31, down from $3.8 million, or 20 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Most of the profit last quarter came from a gain on the sale of land. Revenue fell to $37.9 million from $54.2 million. Sales and earnings dropped in both of the company's segments, digital imaging and semiconductors. In digital imaging, revenue fell 38.8 per cent, with huge declines in sales from the semiconductor inspection and electronics inspection markets. Dalsa attributed the slowdown to delays in capital investment by manufacturers in Asia. Semiconductor revenue did not decline to the same extent, but the previously profitable semiconductor business recorded a net loss for the quarter of $500,000. Margins dipped as the company ramped up production of the tiny machines known as MEMS. Nonetheless, there were some hopeful signs, such as a record backlog of $93.5 million as of March 31. Orders for image-sensor chips remained strong, as did custom orders for digital-imaging equipment. The company was still able to turn a modest profit in the quarter because of several cost-reduction initiatives. Dalsa reduced work weeks, cut salaries and reduced discretionary spending. "We certainly saw this coming," chief executive officer Brian Doody told analysts on a conference call. "We made changes to our market focus in some areas, and we made difficult changes to our operations," Doody continued. "The positive that comes out of this is Dalsa is faring better than others not so well- prepared or those not enjoying the level of diversification that Dalsa has established," Doody said. To combat the recession, Dalsa is targeting markets with less sensitivity to economic fluctuations, such as life sciences, defence, aerospace and intelligent transportation, he said. While Dalsa does not provide official guidance, Doody said it is consistent with his expectations to say the first quarter will be the low-water mark for revenues in 2009. 16 ç ó îð Bruising recession may leave painful aftermath JULIAN BELTRAME July 03, 2009The Canadian Press Canadians will be fighting to recoup what they lost during the recession for several years even after growth returns to the economy, says a new report. The analysis on the recession's impact and the painful aftermath from Dale Orr Economic Insight shows the downturn's scars will still be noticeable five years after growth resumes later this year, in terms of productive capacity, unemployment and living standards. Economist Orr says it's unlikely the unemployment rate, which is projected to hit 10 per cent next year, will get back to the six per cent that existed before the slump even by 2014. As well, he projects Canada's productive capacity in 2014, as well as per-capita output, will only measure about 95 per cent of what it would have been had the recession not occurred and growth proceeded at a modest 2.7 per cent pace. "The average Canadian is going to be hearing of recovery, and they will look around and say, 'Gee, my per capita income has hardly recovered, employment levels have yet to recover, what do you mean by recovery?"' Orr said in an interview. Many economists have also been warning of the long convalescence ahead for the Canadian, and other western economies, after the worst global contraction since the 1930s. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has put a governor on the economy's speed limit, citing reduced business investment and the shuttering of plants and mills in the auto and forestry sectors. The new paper shines a dark light on just how much has been lost that cannot be recovered, and how painful the recovery process will be. "Over the recession, people lose their jobs and they lose work experience which cannot be fully recovered,'' Orr explained. "Business investment and innovation is lost, which is unlikely to be fully recovered. "As well, the recession will cause significant changes in the structure of the economy, especially in the financial and auto sectors.'' Orr's sobering look of the next five years assumes a relatively rosy recovery from the deep recession, with average annual advances in gross domestic product of 3.4 per cent from 2011 to 2014, and more significantly, no slip-up. For some, that is one assumption too many. Given the high level of government spending to provide artificial economic stimulus, and the overhang from years of debt- 17 ç ó îï financed consumer spending, it is far from assured that the economy will be able to walk on its own legs once the public money is exhausted after 2010. "My contention is that even when the recession ends, there's not going to be much of a recovery. It's a post-bubble credit collapse and the transition to the next bull market and economic expansion is truly going to measured in years, not quarters,'' said David Rosenberg of the Toronto investment firm Gluskin Sheff. Scotia Capital economist Derek Holt adds that as a long as employment remains weak or uncertain, workers in the U.S. and Canada "are not going to be of the mindset to go out and make big-ticket purchases. '' And job prospects are expected to remain poor even after many other indicators have turned a corner. A clear example of the phenomenon came yesterday with the release of new U.S. Labor Department data showing the country shed another 467,000 jobs in June, larger than expected given the emergence of so-called "green shoots in the economy. '' The latest U.S. losses confirm that the current slump already qualifies as the deepest since the Great Depression, with the cumulative 4.7 per cent drop in employment easily outstripping the three-per-cent decline of the early 1980s. Canadian labour markets are following the same pattern, said Holt, although with a 2.1- per-cent employment contraction -- 363,000 actual jobs lost -- since the recession's start, workers have not been as hard hit. But given that employers will be wary of hiring too soon, Orr says employment will lag behind other indicators for years. He expects the jobless rate to keep rising from the pre-recession six per cent to about 10 per cent early next year, hovering at elevated levels until 2012, and heading back to 6.5 per cent by 2014. As for the economy as a whole, Orr says restructuring in the auto sector, forestry and financial sectors, among others, will cut output capacity significantly so that five years from now the economy will only be 95 per cent as large as it would have been had the recession not occurred. On a per-capita basis, the best measure of Canadians' standard of living, output will have contracted by 4.3 per cent during the slump, from $39,760 in 2007 to $38,100 this quarter. It will take until 2012 before Canadians recover to the 2007 levels in real terms, he said, and several years after that before they get to levels they would have achieved had the downturn not happened. 18 ç ó îî Local unemployment jumps to 7.7 per cent RECORD STAFF January 09, 2009WEB EDITION The unemployment rate in the Kitchener census metropolitan area jumped to 7.7 per cent in December from 6.5 per cent the previous month, according to numbers released today by Statistics Canada. A total of 21,700 workers were unemployed, up from 18,200 in November. Nationally, unemployment rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.6 per cent. Among metropolitan areas in Canada, only Windsor, St. Catharines-Niagara and Oshawa had higher unemployment rates than greater Kitchener. Kitchener Frame Ltd., which employed 1,200 people, permanently ceased production in December. The Kitchener census metropolitan area includes all of Waterloo Region save Wellesley and Wilmot townships. Harper says changes to EI coming in fall, but declines to give specifics THE CANADIAN PRESS June 11, 2009 CAMBRIDGE, Ont. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is promising changes to employment insurance, but isn't outlining what they might be. Canada has lost 363,000 jobs since October, and during a speech in Cambridge, Ont., Harper conceded that the EI system isn't perfect. The prime minister says his government is looking at more improvements for the fall - but didn't outline any specifics. The Liberals are pushing for a shorter qualifying period for EI and have mused about toppling the government if it won't act. The last Conservative budget added five weeks of EI benefits, but the Liberals are arguing that the qualifying time should be cut to 360 hours of work in the previous year. The Tories argue the Liberal proposal is prohibitively expensive. Now, the qualification period ranges from 420 hours to 700 hours, depending on the region of the country. 19 ç ó îí Region's unemployment rate reaches 10 per cent MATT WALCOFF May 09, 2009 RECORD STAFF Local unemployment reached double digits last month as the recession spread from manufacturing to service-sector industries. The area's unemployment rate of 10.1 per cent -- up half a percentage point from March -- is the third highest among Canadian cities behind Windsor and St. Catharines- Niagara. Not since December 1992 has the jobless rate in the Kitchener census metropolitan area been so high. The number of people out of a job in the area reached 28,300, up from 26,800 in March. In April 2008, the region had the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario at 4.8 per cent. Where the area once surpassed national employment trends, it now lags behind them. Canada gained a net 35,900 jobs in April, and the national unemployment remained at eight per cent flat. Surprisingly, the fields with the biggest loss of jobs in the area since last year were in the service sector, which had 4,600 fewer working employees compared to a year ago. Trade; transportation and warehousing; and information, culture and recreation were especially hard hit. Waterloo Region is feeling the echo of years of job losses in manufacturing as the services companies and their employees use are now facing a drop-off in business. "There's no question it's the domino effect," said Joan Fisk, chief executive officer of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. "There's a general malaise, and everybody's wondering what to do." A year ago, for example, there was a shortage of truck drivers in the area. Now trucking companies are cutting back. "As the manufacturers especially leave this area, and with the auto industry being on shutdown for several weeks longer than they typically would going into the summertime, it just puts more drivers out of work and into the unemployment pool," said Renate Hargreaves, vice-president of Mill Creek Motor Freight in North Dumfries Township, which has reduced its workforce through attrition in the recession. Local political leaders disagree on what they can do to combat unemployment. Regional Chair Ken Seiling said that while municipalities can create employment in the construction industry through infrastructure projects, a broad-based government strategy to tackle joblessness must come from Queen's Park or Ottawa. "I don't think municipalities have the wherewithal" to address the issue, he said. 20 ç ó îì But Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig disagreed and called for more action at the municipal level. "I think the region has got to start doing something, and they have to take a lead role in this," Craig said. "They need to be putting together a strategy to help us get through these bad times." Craig suggested the region improve its marketing for employers and "build on a creative economy" by attracting cultural events and institutions. The City of Waterloo is already doing what it can to address the situation, said Mayor Brenda Halloran. City officials participate in the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region and the Manufacturing Innovation Network; hold regular discussions with businesses and the Uptown Waterloo Business Improvement Area; and serve the needs of site selectors through the economic-development department. "We had some big industries that employed people in the automotive sector that unfortunately have taken a big hit, and that's a real shakeup for the community, and we can't control that," Halloran said. "We can't control that companies are shutting down because GM has shut down for nine (weeks)." The Kitchener census area includes Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Woolwich and North Dumfries townships. 21 ç ó îë What about the poor? LUISA D'AMATO October 06, 2007RECORD STAFF Tina Casey's mouth and jaw hurt every day. Whenever she talks, drinks cold water, or eats something sweet, the Kitchener single mom is in pain. Casey lives far below the poverty line with her three children aged 11, 6, and 2. She's not on welfare, but lives on child support, federal child tax benefits, and wages when she can get a job. Last month the family lived on $1,600. She's trying to find a job in animal care, "even if it's just cleaning kennels." "I want to work," she said. "It's hard for me to find a job." Tina's mouth pain is due to a jaw-joint disorder, which needs surgery, and a couple of cavities in her teeth that need filling. But she doesn't have dental benefits. She can't afford to fill those cavities. As for the jaw sur-gery, she needs $400 just for the initial consultation and X-rays. It might as well be $40,000. Experts say that although the governing Liberal party has tried to reduce poverty, especially for children, it just hasn't been enough. "The depth of poverty is worsening," says Theresa Schumilas, director of health determinant planning and evaluation for Waterloo Region. Schumilas says poverty goes hand in hand with poor health. A survey of the region's three cities shows that the poorest neighbourhoods also have the highest rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, sexually transmitted diseases and suicide. Most of these neighbourhoods are in inner-city Kitchener and the central Galt section of Cambridge. In Waterloo Region, "we can no longer improve health status without addressing poverty," Schumilas said. Brice Balmer, the Kitchener secretary of an Ontario-wide anti-poverty coalition, says the Liberals are fighting child poverty by phasing in a monthly payment to low-income families. When it's fully operating by 2011, the so-called Ontario Child Benefit will pay parents up to $1,100 a year per child. 22 ç ó îê But for childless people on social assistance, life has become steadily more miserable, he said. Those people "are worse off at the election of 2007 than at the election of 2003," Balmer said. The Liberals never restored the deep cuts to welfare -- nearly 22 per cent -- that the previous Conservative government made in the mid-1990s. The increases of seven per cent over the past four years didn't keep up with inflation. That said, Balmer credits Kitchener Centre Liberal MPP John Milloy as "wonderful to work with" on poverty issues. Milloy is part of a group of Liberal MPPs who advocate for the poor, and he says he's proud of his government's plan to fight poverty. A family of one parent and two children under 13 will have nearly 27 per cent more income by 2011, thanks to the child tax benefit, than they did in 2003, he said. The Liberals also plan to spend $45 million for dental care for people like single mom Tina Casey, who are poor and have no dental benefits. And they raised the minimum wage, which was $6.85 an hour in 2003, to $8 an hour. By 2010 it will be $10.25 an hour, if the Liberals are re-elected. "I will defend that until the day I die," said Milloy. However, the New Democratic Party and Green Party candidates say the Liberals are waiting too long. The New Democrats pledge $10 an hour immediately. The Greens would raise it in 2008 to $10.25. The New Democrats would also spend $100 million on dental care for the poor, more than twice what the Liberals have pledged. Bad teeth make it harder to find a job, says the NDP candidate in Kitchener Centre, Rick Moffitt. "Appearance is so important in our society," he said. How can someone get hired, he asks, "when they're coming in for a job interview and they have rotted teeth?" 23 ç ó îé Dealing with poverty makes good economic sense BRICE BALMER December 01, 2008 One cannot predict when tragedy or difficult experiences will arise for one's self or the family. But none of us wish to see other people suffer. We prefer that there is someone to assist and walk alongside, so that emotional or financial pain can be limited. For the past 13 years in Ontario, many have had to suffer because government systems did not provide the basics when a person or family faced difficult experiences. Employment Insurance benefits were reduced, social assistance was reduced, and the minimum wage was not raised from 1995 to 2004. Last week a co-worker sent this e-mail. "How can I help my adult child's friend? He experienced the rapid on-set of a chronic illness. Who should his family contact? He may never be able to go back to work." I replied with several suggestions and was thankful that this friend had been employed because EI, perhaps short-term and long-term disability, and other benefits may apply. For those with only EI, only 27 per cent will receive benefits in Waterloo Region. Without EI or after EI benefits are finished, the person will need to use up all except $2,500 of their assets and then apply for Ontario Works (OW). Hopefully for just six months, but probably for two years, this adult will need to live on $560 ($349 for housing and $211 for other expenses). The next step will be to apply for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) since one must start with OW and then apply to ODSP. If accepted, the income increases by almost $400. This adult friend will probably need personal support care and affordable housing. There are long waiting lists for housing. Will this person need to live in a nursing home? Or with family? A father wondered what would happen to his daughter, who will soon give birth to his grandchild. She will not marry the father of the child nor receive child support. If she is employed, she probably will have EI benefits. If not, she'll need to survive on $1,029 per month -- $549 for housing and $480 for other expenses. She will receive some National Child Benefit under EI, but $100 per month will be clawed back from her $1,029. "How will she and the baby survive?" asked the father. He wondered if there would be child care if his daughter decided to go to work after EI benefits ended. Child care for a baby may be difficult to find. A man's mental health issues eventually made life untenable for his wife and children, so they left. His wife was working; she barely survived on $20-per-hour, but she had help from her family. Because he could not ask for help, he also lost his job and lived in chaos. He was picked up by the police who took him to the hospital; a social worker then helped him to receive OW at $560, but he had a hard time finding a place to live. He became more isolated since he did not have family in the area. 24 ç ó îè There is a human cost to poverty. It affects not only the person but also the network of family and friends. The Cost of Poverty, recently published by the Ontario Association of Food Banks, reports that poverty takes a financial toll of between $4 billion and $6 billion per year in costs to health, education, criminal justice and other systems in Ontario. "In real terms, poverty costs every household in the province from $2,299 to $2,895 per year," the report says. One of the planks of the Ontario poverty reduction strategy is an increase in incomes through minimum wages as well as through social assistance and the Ontario Child Benefit program. This allows all people to participate in society and reduces the harm to themselves and the larger society. Ontario and its residents save money by paying more. In addition, people with low-wage jobs or social assistance benefits spend their money in the community, which benefits local businesses. It is impossible to predict job layoffs, illness, mental health issues, divorce, or accidents. How do we as a society stand with the people who suffer as well as their families and friends? To walk with them is a moral obligation if we love them. Is it not also the moral obligation of a government to have a safety net? Is it not interesting that if we had a safety net, it would be financially advantageous for the province and for us as residents? And perhaps we could all sleep better at night. Brice Balmer is general secretary of Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC) and has worked many years as a Mennonite community chaplain in Waterloo Region. 25 ç ó îç Region's welfare caseload growing FRANCES BARRICK July 11, 2009 RECORD STAFF The bad news is the number of welfare cases continues to increase in Waterloo Region. The good news is last month's increase in caseload was the lowest so far this year. Last month, the number of welfare cases rose by 138 cases over May, for a total of 8,073 cases. That's a 1.7 per cent jump in one month, and a 26.7 per cent hike since June 2008. The region's unemployment rate for June remained at 9.9 per cent, unchanged from May. The monthly increase in welfare cases of 1.7 per cent is substantially less than the highest percentage increase this year of 4.8 per cent in March. This downward trend started in April with a 2.9 per cent increase, followed by a 2.4 per cent increase in May. Gail Kaufman Carlin, the acting regional commissioner of social services, said it is encouraging to see the number in welfare cases not rising as quickly as it did in the winter. But she said the region is waiting to see what will happen once people have exhausted employment-insurance benefits. If they can't find work, they could be the next group of people needing social assistance. "I think that is what we are going to see in the next few months, but it hasn't happened yet,'' Kaufman Carlin said. "We will just have to wait and see what happens.'' The region had budgeted for a monthly welfare caseload of 6,400. This higher number of cases means the region could exceed its welfare budget by as much as $3.9 million this year. Expecting this outcome, regional council agreed early this year to dip into its $10-million reserve, rather than raise the money through taxation. After the recession in the 1990s, council had set up this reserve for the next economic slump. 26 ç ó íð TheRecord.com - Opinions – Politicians appear blind to problems created by unemployment FRANK ETHERINGTON September 18, 2008 RECORD STAFF Approaching an unnecessary federal election where millions of dollars will be squandered on political puffery, we're seeing the consequences of the past governments' lack of vision in communities like Waterloo Region, where United Way campaigns are in trouble because many potential donors are unemployed. United Way organizers in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge announced last week they have frozen 2008 campaign targets at 2007 levels. This means wishful-thinking campaign officials hope to raise $5.3 million in Kitchener-Waterloo, while Cambridge- North Dumfries campaigners hope to collect $2.6 million. So why the freeze in a booming local economy? Partly because of political incompetence and lack of foresight resulting in plant closures that means, since 2002, a staggering 7,800 workers have lost high-salary manufacturing jobs in Waterloo Region. Most of them were unionized employees who gave generously to United Way campaigns that support dozens of agencies. Regional union leaders now predict a 50-per-cent decrease in donations from unionized workers. Many of the employees losing jobs are in their 40s and 50s. Some are poorly educated and understandably reluctant to return to classrooms to take courses that often fail to provide them with alternate job skills in a bewildering high-tech world. And while more effort has to be made by federal politicians to provide better and more varied job-retraining, those currently seeking votes have to reach beyond those essential programs. In addition to skills-retraining and federal investment in businesses providing alternate jobs, whoever forms the next federal government should, during times of increasing need faced by the families of unemployed workers, financially support community agencies that will not get enough United Way cash if campaigns fail. Federal money should be provided in the form of grants to emergency agencies and through increased child-benefit payments to thousands of families who face poverty once factory jobs disappear. Those elected should also expand day-care services to help unemployed people find jobs and invest more federal dollars in affordable shelter. In Kitchener Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought voters a be-happy message about our failing economy, pledged to help first-time homebuyers but didn't mention low-cost housing. 27 ç ó íï The same day, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said his government will delay its promised anti-poverty plan -- desperately needed by families hit hard by layoffs -- until the economy improves. Waterloo Region voters appalled at the pathetically uninspiring choice of having either Stephen Harper or St?phane Dion in charge of leading us through tough economic times should swallow their dismay and, holding their noses tightly, attend all-candidate meetings in coming weeks. With job losses and United Way campaign shortfalls in mind, they should question local political hopefuls about what their different parties would do to ease the stress and human misery caused by unemployment. On Oct. 14, they should then vote for candidates who provide the most believable and compassionate answers to such important questions. Kitchener journalist Frank Etherington writes about social issues every Thursday. He welcomes your comments at fetherington@sympatico.ca 28 ç ó íî