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Pages THE HERALD February a Political Forum Ottawa Report Dream merchants prey on peoples prejudice 26 St Georgetown Ont 8779896 Reading the news reports of the five Town Hall meetings I ve just bad you can tell that people are still steamed up about Quebec lake and the constitution It seems a lot of people thought the defeat of the accord last summer put Quebec back m the box and that we could all forget about French Canadians for a while Meanwhile in Quebec that defeat has been festering for months now The result Polls show about of Englishspeaking Cana will not accept any special deal for Quebec even if it means Quebec leaves Canada Polls also show about 70 of Quebecois want to leave Canada if no Special status is granted A great people at my meetings greeted this with a shrug comfortable in the in evitability now of a final resolu tion to the Quebec question They ve always wanted to go anyway I was told more than a few times so why not just let em do if For starters no country ever got stronger or wealthier by ting smaller Quebec accounts for more than a quarter of the whole economy And if a country of million people can t balance the books how can we possibly do it Garth Turner MP Halton Peel Progressive Conservative by losing six million of those peo ple You know there are people here who think Quebec separa would make no difference to their lives that the dollar wouldn fall or interest rates go up or taxes spike higher And there are who believe they can have the emotional high of nationhood and yet the pro sperity that has come from being part of Canada Both opinions are wrong You can t suck and blow at the same time You can have the wealth that a united Canada has created average Canadian household in come with one quarter of it carved out You can divorce yourself from Canadian laws and still expect to enjoy that wealth Last week in Quebec City the prime minister said this Watch out for the dream merchants those who say it no problem to destroy a great country and rebuild it later those who claim they alone can change the course of history Mulroney said it right there are dream merchants out there selling to people prejudices in tolerances regional loyalties and misconceptions In Quebec they tell the average people that independence would bring much and cost little They spin the myth that the rest of Canada doesnt want them They say that Quebec can only protect its French culture and language by leaving Confederation In the rest of Canada the chants tell us the break up of Canada is inevitable They say never really wanted to be Canadians They may even tell vou there a plot to have the French take over Canada And they always speak of French be ing rammed down the throats of others I asked a woman at one of the meetings what she meant by that It turned out she hates the French Queens Park Report workers offered assistance This weeks report deals with the announcement by Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie on January about a plan to help the rapidly growing number of workers devastated by job losses due to plant closures and layoffs We have a responsibili ty to everyone in Ontario to en sure a high quality of life is main tained especially during these tunes of recession announced Mr Mackenzie Our government will put in place a fivepoint plan to assist these workers 5 million in new funding will be used for the coordination of services provided to workers through Labour Management Adjustment Com These committees are set up in firms faced with layoffs or closures and consist of representatives from labour management and government They are responsible for ensuring that workers receive the vocational counselling and academic upgrading they need to help them find new jobs Employ and Immigration Canada has agreed that federal training and support programs will be readily available for workers referred to these programs by the adjustment committees an additional million in new funding will be provided to create new programs to assist laidoff workers and enhance ex ones These programs which include literacy and basic skills development are ad ministered by the Ministries of Labour Skills Development Col leges and Universities Noel Duignan Halton North MPP New Democratic Party tion and Citizenship to coordinate all government activities relating to assistance for workers the Office of Labour Adjustment OLA will be created Aside from funding to help laidoff workers find quality work the Ministry plans a number of legislative initiatives These form the final two elements of the program the Wage Protection Fund an nounced last October and in a previous Queen Park Report will be established following consultations now underway This fund is intended to protect workers who lose wages owed to them as a result of business insolvency bankruptcy or abandonment Legislation dealing with the fund is expected to be introduced during the spr big session and once passeu will be retroactive to October the Ministry also plans a number of amendments to the Employment Standards Act which will improve protection for workers in such areas as the length of notice of termination payment of severance pay and advance notice of technological change Consultations with in terest groups on these proposed amendments will begin in February and legislation will be introduced during the spring ses sion This fivepoint program is a direct response to the commit that we as a government have to the people and the com munities of Ontario Mr Mackenzie announced We are in very difficult times and are determined that the victims of the recession get the comprehen sive assistance they need In a related announcement on February Education Minister Marion Boyd stated that million in funding would be provided to twenty seven workplace literacy projects throughout the province Through the Ontario Basic Skills in the Workplace program the Ministry will help a variety of organizations develop expertise m providing effective literacy training and basic skills training in the workplace The funding will go to train literacy tors produce curriculum materials and explore new wayB of delivering programs Given the massive increase in the number of requests to Halton Region for social assistance it is apparent that the recession has already had a severe effect upon the families and communities in this area It is our intention to reduce the impact of the current economic conditions with measures such as the five point plan to assist laidoff workers NAME THE DOG CONTEST WE NEED A NAME FOR OUR DOG IT MUST HAVE A HEALTHY THEME EXCITING PRIZE FOR THE WINNER LIFESTYLES OF HILLS RICH IN RESOURCES FAMOUS FOR FUN A COMMUNITY SHOWCASE WITH EMPHASIS ON HEALTHY UFESTYLES DON MISS ITI SATURDAY APRIL AT H S IFYOUHGFUPDfONOTRCEIVEAREGISTRATIONFOftMPtEASECAUa73 EXT NAM THE DOG CONTEST ne March 8th 19 IMQ Hatty Nuw I I I DROP OFF AT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS HBXSUBIUfttaiGwortowiArfonll label on her bran flakes box Mulroney also said this in French My responsibility as prime minister of Canada is not to treat with kid gloves those who are set on destroying our coun try I hope most of you reading this agree because I do As your federal Member of Parliament I m not about to accept Quebec separation I not going to treat a declaration of independence with a shrug And I refuse to ac the inevitability of that pro vince leaving Canada Emotionally I am committed to a Canada that starts at St Johns and ends at Victoria without any holes in the middle Economically I expect a Canada which remains one of the biggest industrialized countries and does not shrink to the stature of Bolivia politically I expect the people who live in Quebec to be part of the system that I am we have problems and the need to find solutions is obvious But the break up of Canada is not one of those solutions As the MP for Peel I will not accept it And I hope you can back me SAME DAY TAX RETURNS Guelph St Gi 8772217 NEW IN TOWN Let Us Put The Mat Out For You ACTON I GEORGETOWN Judy Dobbin NEW ADDITION It a lime to call your Welcome Wagon hoateaa She will bring congratulauona and girts for the family and the NEW BABY Eye Examinations Guelph St Arranged Sq Georgetown JNells DRIVING SCHOOL DAY CRASH COURSE MARCH BREAK March 3 30pm jay Quart For Information About Courses or Private Lessons phone 8772671 J J D i CHURI DENOMINATIONAL PENTECOSTAL ALL PEOPLES CHURCH DELIVERANCE CENTRE Blvd SW Corner 7 Bible Study Worship Deliverance Sunday 10 30 Wednesday We Provide Children Church Nursery Service Engflahlollalian Translation pM Pastor George A LeRoy m 792 2176 CHURCH OF ST ALBAN THE MARTYR lAngKcan Canada William Mountain Main Antra A NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH wHiffi lime annus am tout SERVICES Sunday School 9 a Worsh p Services 500pm Wednesdays p HILLS CONGREGATION Haiti South Ion