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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, August 13, 2009 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist NEIL OLIVER Vice-president and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Dynamic E.I. plan Terence Young, Oakville MP B Terence Young RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America y now you have heard about the federal government's economic stimulus plan to get Canadians who have lost their jobs, back to work. That includes 3,000 infrastructure projects in Ontario. Combined with low interest rate policy and loan guarantees, it's working. Canada may technically be out of this recession THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER BEAUTIFUL BRONTE: Barry Catley, left, of the Bronte Horticultural Society, leads a tour of the garden at the historic Sovereign House on Sunday afternoon. Taking in the beauty are, from right, Don Dusha, Mary Murray and Marg Catley.The day offered a trio of guided garden tours at the historic house that makes its home at 7 West River St. There were also botanical art and local history exhibits to wrap up the exhibition, In the Garden, and lemonade was served on the patio. Throughout the summer, Sovereign House is open every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday from 1-4 p.m. Admission is by donation, contact 905-825-5552. this quarter. In Oakville, I have been delighted to announce federal funding for a new 1,000-space parking lot at the Oakville GO Station, a new sewage treatment plant, a major new bus facility to help expand bus service and expansion of facilities for Sheridan College. There is more to come. But we are not declaring victory over the recession yet, because unemployment always lags behind in a recovery. To help, we have made major improvements to the Employment Insurance system. The E.I. system works by dividing Canada into 58 areas and uses monthly Stats Canada local employment figures to automatically adjust required hours of work to qualify and weeks of benefits to be paid. Late last year, unemployed Canadians said we should extend the benefit period in a recession. We agreed, and increased it over the previous government period by five weeks, the greatest increase in decades.We also froze E.I. premium rates paid by workers and employers and saved them $10. 5 billion over two years -- money that will be put right back into our economy, boosting jobs for others. In November, I visited an auto parts manufacturer in Oakville that had joined the brilliant E.I. job-sharing program, which avoids layoffs by paying benefits to those who work shorter weeks. Almost 5,000 companies across Canada are protecting 154,000 jobs with job sharing, keeping trained workers on the payroll until the recession passes. We have extended the programs by 14 weeks and made qualification easier during the recession. The goal of the system is not just helping folks financially, but helping many learn skills for a new job. I am so pleased we are also investing $500 million in a New Strategic Training and Transition Fund to help individuals get retrained for the jobs of the future. One problem since November has been that E.I. offices were too busy. Our government has now hired 700 new claims staff and 285 agents so that the calls of unemployed people will be answered faster and their claims protested quicker. If you can't get through during the day, try evenings before 8 p.m. or Saturdays. It is a flexible system, but isn't perfect. This summer we are reviewing it for further improvements with a non-partisan panel. The Liberal opposition is proposing people collect E.I. after only nine weeks work across Canada -- a 45-day work year. This is, in my view, an unrealistic option that could bankrupt the system. I believe Canadians want to work and we need to focus on the real issue -- training workers for the jobs of the future. More improvements are coming to E.I. Taking one for the team in a stateside search for family fun S he was taking one for the team. We were in Chicago on a family vacation. And, at various points in the week as we ventured to prove Jerry Seinfeld wrong -- that there indeed exists such as thing as "fun for the whole family" -- we had all fallen on a proverbial grenade or two for the sake of the mission. Now it was my wife's turn. You see, she hates crowds. Not clinically demophobic, she nonetheless harbours a deep dislike and even deeper distrust of the erratic behaviour of large crowds and the drunken louts inevitably found in those crowds. So, months ago when contemplating this trip, we poured her a really tall glass of wine and when that was consumed, we poured another and then we talked her into accompanying us to Lollapalooza. For the uninitiated, Lolla is an annual three-day music festival in Grant Park at the foot of Chicago's stunning skyline. As festivals go, this one's a rare gem: fastidiously organized, embraced by the community, run like clockwork; this ain't your father's muddy, messy Woodstock. Further, it's an eclectic affair, bringing together on four main stages assorted genres of music, 130-plus artists, and all types of people -- some 75,000 per day -- includ- Andy Juniper ing, of course, the inevitable, erratic, drunken louts. My sons and I attended last year and loved it, despite being baked into submission by the inevitable heat and humidity of Chicago in August. When this year's stellar lineup was announced, we started talking about returning. Our daughter got in on the talk and the trip evolved from a boys' weekend away, to a week- long family vacation. We arrived in The Windy City and promptly shifted into tourist mode, madly taking in all the sights from Millennium Park and the Navy Pier, to the Willis Tower and the Shedd Aquarium, to shopping districts like the renowned Magnificent Mile and the quirkier Wicker Park (think Queen Street West in Toronto, only... better). It was during those extended shopping excursions that I took my lumps for the team. Shopping is not my bag, baby. Personally, if I need something, I just go get it. Conversely, my wife (and every other woman I know, although I sure don't want to sound sexist) will browse for days -- until her dogs are barking and her Visa's melting down -- with the hope that unfathomable, must-have bargains will leap off the racks into her patient arms. While she tried on bargains in one shop, I found myself in a position to which most men can relate: parked outside a dressing room talking to a sales clerk about the weather. "You're going to Lolla this afternoon?" she said, shaking her head. "You know, it's supposed to storm like nobody's business." Yeah, we knew. As we walked toward Grant Park, the skies darkened ominously and first drops were felt. By the time we heard the opening, crashing notes of The Gaslight Anthem, it was pouring. By the end of the memorable set, we were soaked and chilled to the bone. On the plus side, my wife was too wet and cold to even consider the crowds. After two hours, I had an epiphany: I'm way too old for this. After four hours of being pelted by unrelenting rain, my wife and I waved the white flag -- which is to say, we decided to act our age, to slosh on back to the hotel for a hot shower and a cold glass of wine. Andy Juniper can be visited at his website, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.