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THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday February 1D90 the HERALD OUTLOOK is published each Saturday by the HALTON HILLS HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited at 45 Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario L7G 8778822 PUBLISHER David A Beattie EDITOR Brian MacLeod AD MANAGER Dan Taylor Second Class Mail Registered Number STAFF WRITERS Ben Dummett Alan SPORTS EDITOR Colin Gibson ACCOUNTING Jennie Inga CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Joan ADVERTISING SALES Valois Craig Teeter Slacie Roberts PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Dave Hastings Supl Annie Olsen Gilson Wilson CIRCULATION Marie Is Robert personally bankrupt SNAFU by Bruce Beattie When Robert Campeaus U S retailing empire filed for under I S bankruptcy laws few people stopped to ask is Mr Campeau himself bankrupt Well that was the headline in The New York Times last Friday The Times concludes that yes in deed the Canadian businessman is in dire financial straits The conclusion is inescapable In January the National Bank of Canada said Mr Campeau had failed to make payments on a million loan It seized securities Mr Campeau hail pledged as col lateral On Wednesday the Bank of Mon treal said Mr had defaulted on a million loan Again Mr Campeau pledged his securities as collateral Trouble is the securities are not worth much If Mr Campeau is personally liable for the loans as seems likely one wonders where he will get the money BOBS BROKE Bob is as broke as his com says Ira Gluskin a Toronto money manager Mr Campeau put everything he had into the com he founded more than years ago As his S retailing empire lunged toward bankruptcy Mr begged and borrowed in a vain attempt to shore it up He borrowed against his Canadian assets to lend to his US sub In so doing he may have ruined himself and his family If Bob is on that National Bank loan with his personal covenant he is bankniDt said Harry a Toronto stock analyst The bank refuses to say whether Mr Campeau is personally liable for the loan The Times finds it remarkable that such a wealthy man did not diversify his assets Last summer Mr Campeau was worth more than million But people who know Mr Campeau are not surprised He believed himself and his com pany Corp was Bob Campeaus life said Michael Babad who cowrote a biography of the entrepreneur The great bulk of his wealth has been tied up in the companys stock FAMILY LOSES His childrens wealth too He gambled almost everything his own personal stuff plus the childrens trusts said his soninlaw Robert Mr has not filed for personal bankruptcy The Times notes But speculation is rising that he may have to My guess is that if there is any way he can avoid it he will If the banks will give him some time chances are Mr Campeau will repay them As one former Campeau director says Bobs irrepressible so hell be back Bob will always find something interesting to do and a way to make money Hes a sur- Berrys World YOU GREAT OAT IS FOR BACK I HAP I Ed hasnt even peeped in 35 years Must we take Meech Lake on the road It s bad enough that certain politicians in Canada talk out of both sides of their mouths when discussing the Meech Lake accord but surely to Heaven we can con fine the confusion to our own coun try But no Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa has to take the show on Europe bet Europeans just love to hear about Lake Within Canada the two versions differ depending on whether the audiences are French or English- speaking In anglo Canada there is a tendency for politicians to say the accord will not give Quebec any new powers nor will it alter the balance of power in the coun try Within Quebec audiences are frequently told that its the most significant breakthrough since either the Magna Carta or sliced bread There are more contradictions than that particularly about the consequences if the accord is re jected The way some such as Jean Chretien tell it nothing much would change Then there are those who say failure would be an insult to Quebec or that the pro vince might even be driven out of the federation Now thanks to the globetrotting Mr Bourassa we have new defini tions to ponder if you happen to be in the mood for pondering about Meech Lake What he said in Germany is that rejection of the accord could lead to a new superstructure for his province A new superstructure Now isnt that helpful Reporters who sought help didnt get much from the premier He ad vised accompanying journalists to interpret what I said given your experience What Mr Bourassa is trying to do obviously is reassure Euro pean investors they have nothing to fear about Quebecs future At the same time hes using Cana dian reporters to spread the word that rejection of Meech would change the face of the Canadian federation Given the premiers comments its not surprising that the term sovereignty association would be tossed around This is what the voters of Quebec rejected in the 1980 referendum But the premier under later questioning said he had not used that expression Technically he was right Then he went on to suggest that an option could be a system like the European Economic Commuiu ty And when it was pointed out that the EC is made up of sovereign states he said this was a matter of perception If this is not playing word games I dont know what is It was only fitting that someone Quebec City would ask In Affairs Minister Gil to explain the premiers remarks Among other things he clarified according to published reports was that Mr had spoken only of structures not frameworks Thanks a lot GIVES SUPPORT But Mr was unstin ting in his support of the boss Its the duty of a premier and a govern ment to foresee all possibilities and discussing the possibility of a failure is just being realistic He also said that federalism is a compromise which means Its always in movement Our federal structures must be adopted to to days reality I suppose I would feel more lighthearted about this whole flam ing business if there was over whelming evidence that Mr Bourassa and a majority of ministers were committed federalists Then these word games wouldnt have such significance But there is no such evidence However there is evidence the premier is trying to say two dif ferent things to two entirely separate audiences I guess we should be used to all this double talk by now But somehow it doesnt get any easier to take Lots of debate on universality of programs Vic Parsons Ottawa Bureau Theres an issue Canadians will hear a lot more about as the 1990s unfold Its universality of social pro grams once described by Prime Minister Brian as a sacred trust but now a sacrificial lamb on the altar of deficit reduction Already the government has acted in this area using the so- called to regain cash paid out to high income recipients of old age pensions and family allowances But with the deficit an increasing concern in Ottawa debate on the universality issue will have an even higher profile The latest policy review of the C D Howe Institute a economic research institution with conservative leanings zeroes in on the future of universal benefit payments It calls for an overhaul of social policies now and a redirection of money to aid the poorest A chapter written by Thomas Courchene director of the School of Policy Studies at Queens University portrays a privileged older generation growing fat on universal payments while younger Canadians face a shortage of money for training and educa Courchenes view is that Canadas social programs were developed in a richer more pro sperous age without reference to such factors as efficiency work in centives and regional adjustment It was designed as a social ty blanket for all rather than a social safety net specifically aimed at helping those in greatest need He argues that the security- blanket approach frustrated in ittative innovation and natural ad justments While Canadians were rich enough to pay for it in the 1960s and early 70s the rapid growth of the debt has made such programs a burden on the countrys resources today Its revealing that in last Aprils budget Finance Minister Michael Wilson used the term social safe ty net in announcing the clawbacks Those who need help most would retain all their benefits he said Highincome recipients would keep less Wilson and other ministers cant quite bring themselves to say universality is dead that ad mission might incur more wrath from an already irate public But the reality is they have already ac cepted the buzzwords and the ad vice of those who argue against universal programs Regardless of the words employed Its likely the assault on universality especially for the elderly will continue over the next few years Courchene suggests for exam ple that perhaps the Is only a halfway measure Theres also an argument he says for phasingout the age and pension- income tax credits that Ottawa now allows seniors with savings being targeted to the poor