“CASTLEGAR NEWS; Januory 25, 198)

Trade board head blasts new group| Caltit ?

VANCOUVER (CP) ‘The
president of the Vancouver
Board of Trade has. lam-
basted as divisive and ir-
responsible a proposed West-
ern Canada Chamber of Com-
merce, saying the Canadian
chamber provides adequate
representation of western
interests,

But the head of the Vie-
toria Chamber of Commerce
endorsed the proposal Thurs-
day as a means of advancing
western interests in Ottawa.

Formation of the new
group was announced Wed-
nesday by Ronald K. We

president of the B.C, Cham-
ber of Commerce, who said °
the new chamber “is de-
signed to meet the growing
demand for a western voice
for the western chambers of
commerce and the weatern
business. community.”

In telegrams to local cham-
bers asking for support, the
B.C, chamber announced : it
will form a regional organ- ,
ization with offices in Van-
couver. and Ottawa to lobby -
directly for western con-
cerng.;

‘The; B.C. chamber ‘ts un- .

happy o over what it feels is

‘

the national chamber’a fail

ure to forcefully oppose the
federal government's contro-
versial energy policies,

However, the new cham-
ber is not intended to com:
pote with or supersede either
the Canadian Chamber of
Commerce or the four west-
ere provincial chambers, said
Jim Fitz Gibbons, executive
director of the B.C. chamber,
which ‘represents -86 local
chambers and 25,000 mem-
bers.

OPPOSE PROPOSAL

But Bruce Pepper, presi-

dent of the Vancouver board,

said ¢he ‘proposal’ would ba
vigorously opposed’ by his
group.

“There is np possible way
that this attempt to divide
the voice of business in
Canada can be’ séen ‘in any
way, shape or form as being
in the best Interests of the
Canedian business commun-
{ty or tho chambers and
-boards that represent “it,”
Peppor said in a‘ news re-
 leage,

* Pepper said the B.C, cham-

ber failed to consult trade ,

boards and chambers of com-

Gov’ } studies small business

OTTAWA (CP) — The
government has started a
study on small business fi-

nancing, including a look at”

claims, of discrimination
against small businesses by
chartered banks.

Charles Lapointe, minister
of State for small business,
told the Commons the study
will look at financing through
chartered banks, the Federal
Business Development Bank
and other financial institu-
tions. ..

Lapointe said the study
into bank financing, to be
handled by the University of
Western Ontario, will include
interviews with bank its
to check claims of discrim-
ination.

Later a spokesman for the
minister said small business-
men frequently complain
chartered banks are inter-
ested only in financing big

business.

-Lapointe also said it would
be irresponsible for the gov-
ernment to take action on the
high interest rates now faced
by small business before the

studiés on’ faaeingg are
complete. .

However, he said he sees
merit‘in a New Democratic
Party suggestion that Cana-
dians be allowed income tax

writectfs for funds set aside
to inveat in small business.

Lapointe also said he -is"

interested in a graduated tax
for small business, similar to
personal income, taxes.

BBB receives $35,500

The B.C, government has
awarded a one-time grant of
$35,500 to the Better Busi-
ness Bureau of the mainland
of B.C,

Consumer and Corporate
Affairs Minister Peter Hynd-
man said the grant will allow.
the BBB to:

e Reinstate a Vancouver
Zenith line service for con-
sumors living in the inter-
ior. 7

@ Re-open the bureau's sub-
office in Kelowna.

e Add one telephone line and :
one information counsellor to
the Vancouver office.

Studies by B.C. Telephone
have shown that 12,000 cal-
lers a week are unabie to

}

reach the BBB’ because of -

inadequate telephone ans-
wering capacity and lack of
staff. .

“The bureau provides 2
valuable service ‘to consum-
ers by supplying information:
about businesses and - busi-

nd some quotes from Toronio writer

Kristiansen on UIC

It's time to tackle the
Unemployment Insurance
Commission again, (I'll leave
motherhood and apple pie for
later.)

A letter last week from
Kootenay West MP Lyle
Kristiansen prompts, it, be-
cayse he sent along some

interesting observations -

made in an article published
in the Toronto Star, which
are worth passing along —
“especially if you're among
those -feeling abused, inti-
midated or discriminated
against by a UIC Benefit
Control Officer (BCO).

Before we get into that,
however, I'll pass on Lyle's
reaction tomy Jan. 4 column,

(C can be all heart.”

“I have just read your col.
umn regarding the Unem-
ployment Insurance Commis-
sion in Castlegar and I can
certainly sympathize with
you. There are some glaring
problems with: the adminis-
tration of UIC and especially
in a rural setting like Koot-
enay West...

“It was.refreshing to read

your recent column, since .

most newspaper columnists
keep on suggesting that the
unemployed have. such a
marvelous time, when I know
nothing can be further from
the truth. The fact is, far too
many unemployed, honest,
sihcere, hard-working peo-
ple, who find themselves un-
employed through no fault of
their own, get treated like
criminals and bums. One has
to wonder if this is the in-
tended purpose of some
within the UIC bureaue-
racy..." °

* Lyle asked me to forward
to him specifics of one case I
know of that has resulted in
considerable inconvenience
and temporary loss of bene-
fits to one Castlegar resident.

(If YOU know of others, |

please send the specifics to
me and Tl get them to Lyle
— or forward them to him
yourself.)

He concludes his letter:

intend to approach the
minister responsible with
these. concerns, along with
the other numerous ‘ex-
amples we have on file, to see
whether some of the most
glaring problems might be
attended | to in the, near fu-
ture .

Now ‘for excerpts from the
Toronto Star. The article was
written by Victor Schwart-
zman, a former information
officer for what used to be
known as the federal Em-

ployment and Immigration -

Commission in Toronto,

I had frequent
opportunity to see the agen-
cy’s police force, the Benefit
Control Officers, doing their’

job of cutting claimants off

, the payroll, They work to a

strict quota system that re-
quires them to cut off 40 to 60
per cent of.claimants they
interview. -

“Inthe age group 15- 24—
ona of the prime targets for
the -BCOs —. the. unem-
ployment rate reaches 16 per.
cent

“oe National “statistics
show that 35 out of every 100.
claimants for UIC benefits
are disallowed right off the
top, because they do not

meet the criteria to collect
the benefits.”

.'Forty out of the re-
maining 65 will be cut off by
the agency before the natural
termination of their benefit
eligibility” (50 weeks).

- The BCOs get the
names of those to be: targeted
from a computer which sin-
gles out people in allegedly
‘high abuse’ groups, prin-
cipally single men under 24,
and | ALL MARRIED WOM-
EN.

(In an attempt to find. out,
why single men under 24 and.
married women of child-bear-
ing age had been singled out,
Schwartzman ph ned the
brass in Ottawa. “I was told
time and time again that. the
material was ‘confidential’ —
even toa staff member with
security clearance.”)

. ‘\2 .qlt’s easy for BCOs to
cut,people off. For one thing,
.claimants, as a, matter .of
policy; are usually never told
all the rules they, will be
judged by.. They are never
told the details.of what UI
considers to be a proper job
search — the number of
applications for a job that
must be made each week to
‘satisfy the agency and to
continue to qualify for: ben-
efits. After three or four
months on claim, they are cut
off on the basis of those rules
no one ever told them about.”

.». BCOs are free to use *

any methods or trick ques-
tions they wish. They know
that the vast majority of
their decisions will never be
questioned.”

BCOs know “all the rules,
while you, know none, That
hardly seems fair.” *

Schwartzman makes some
suggestions on how to handle
BCOs — “they are usually
polite; they won't browbeat
yon because they don't have

at you're asked how much
"you feel a job should j pay, sa:
“the prevailing wage"or the
minimum wage.” -

_. What type of work are you.
looking. for? ("Virtually ANY

limitation you place on your-
self is an excuse to cut you
off.") Be flexible. The best

ness practices,” "Hyndman
said..."It also’ operates a

*. successful: arbitration pro-

gram to: mediate disputes
betweeh consumers and.sup-
pliers. There is close ‘co-
operation between .the bur-
eau and.my ministry.”.
Hyndman éaid the govern-
‘ment grant -is expected to

assist the BBB in expanding"

its membership, thus provid-
‘ing better services. to con-
sumers, The bureau is pri-
marily member-financed,

answer is to be looking in at,
them, along with Lyle Kris-
tiansen, until some improve-
ments in ‘the system” are
made ard the Trail office

decides to man the Castlegar -
. Canada Employment: (Cag tre

witha A outing
basis. "why

: eoatanrt they? At least one’

‘of their counsellors LIVES in:

Castlegar, This is an impor-
tant subject, especially in

these days-of job insecurity .
and growing unemployment. ©
Who knows who will be next

“Editors are
People, too.

— sort ‘of” ,

(Linus)

- By E
DON HARVEY

least four different job areas.
Geographical area: “You

to face a BCO: You? Me? '
Td appreciate your’ com:

will be expected totake a job ments in the form of letters
that requires up to (and. to the eater, .

longer than) an hour and «
‘half's travel one-way.”
(That's all very fine, Mr.
Schwartzman, if you live in
Metro Toronto where there's
public | transit. But what
about in a rural area where
public transportation is, at
best, minimal and you don't-
own a vehicle?)

"The best answer.is a mini.

mum of 10 job searches a“

week.”

three at your fingertips —to
demonstrate you are instant-

ly available for work. If you”

take your child to the inter-
view, this will make the BCG
suspicious.”

Manner and appearance:
UIC staffers, like everyone
else, have their préjudices.
Tidy up and put on your

happy face. But don’t show,

up for the interview looking
like you just hopped off the
last freight train that passed
through town. ‘

ng hope my readers — and I

do have quite a few left — |

don't get bored with my_oc-
casional jabs at the UIC. I'm
going to keep hammering at

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merce in the western prov-
inces before making its move."

He said western chambers
are well represented by the
Canadian chamber, which has
four directors from B.C, and
is headed by Stan Roberts;
Winnipeg native, former
vice-president of Simon Fra-
ser University and former
president of the Canada West
Foundation. 2

\

Fewer consumers

"He also said 44 of the policy
.positions adopted © by the
Canadién chamber at its last -
annual meeting ‘were. sub-.:
mitted by weatern delegate +

“SHARE OPPOSITION:

a: * The Vancouver board's op:

position to the weatern cham:
ber is ahared by the pro-
vincial boards of Alberta and .
Saskatchewan and ’ “major

, boards and chambers in the

declare bankruptcy

VANCOUVER (cP) _
Consumer bankruptcies in
British. Columbia’ increased
steadily during the 19708, but,
the trend appears to be re-
versing as the 1980s take .
hold.

The’ provinces thriving
resource-based economy and.
booming real estate market
are two reasons why fewer ..
B.C. consumers ‘are filing
personal insolvency claims,

: officials say.

While the number of con-
sumer bankruptcies” filed
across Canada’ increases
every year — to 19,419 in .

.1980 from 2,782 in 1970.

Consumer and Corporate
fairs Canada reports B.C.’s
1980 total decreased by: 115°
per cent (from 1,224 in A879) ©.
compared with a natio ide
increase of 17.2 per .cent.:
John Procter, with’. the

Vancouver office of consumer

and corporate affairs, says.
the number of business bank-
ruptcies in the province is.
also down.

CITES ECONOMY.
“The (bankruptcy) trus-
tees fee! our ‘resource-based *

economy must have somé- ©

thing to do with it,’

He says a province such as
Ontario, --which’ recorded
nearly 25 per cent more con-'
sumer bankruptcies, in 1980,
has to rely largely on sec-
ondary industries.

John Bottom, a bankruptey
trustee with ‘Touche - Ross

jortgages on homes
that hive recently doubled ,

‘and tripled.in value on ‘the |

B.C. real estate-market. .
, Today, for a filing fee of*
$10, anyone up to his ears in
bills and oredlt collectors can

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walk into the ‘local consumer
ana corporate affairs office —

dif his case warrants it ~
te assigned’ to one of eight”
Pefecrral pbeenta

nce the papers are sign-
ed, ‘the debtor ‘is declared ee
bankrupt and all psymeiits to «
-ereditors cease. A waiting
period of three months to one
year follows before an ab-
sokite discharge is granted

_by-the courts and the debtor

is legally insolvent...

MUST TURNOVER, FUNDS
During the ‘undischarged

period, howevi vr, the debtor

is obliged to turn over any

“money he receives — above

, what is required to maintain

a reasonable standard of liv-
‘ing = to'the trustee,

Tn B.C,, a person who files _

for bankruptcy is allowed to

“retain $2,000 worth of assets
asJong as he owns: those.

assets outright — and thet

includes. clothing, vehicles . |

and household furnishings. ,
waathe debtor, is working, he

priviogal in:an attempt to
reimburse his creditors dur-
"ing and after the bankruptcy
action. If the debts are eli--
ted; the bankruptcy as-
signtnent can be annulled.
Peggy Hales, a Vancouver
lawyer with the People’s Law

‘School,’ says most debtors

wait until the last minute to"

.file for bankruptcy." - )”
“Usually 2 thea drastic *
p the ‘their’

happens

arrass

n the ae The tamediate
lief afforded by the Bank:
ruptey Act is the relief of

+ legal ‘action against you. The

person then’ has this time
period when’ he can get back
on his feet.”

«western provinces,” he. said.

But ‘Arnie Lane, president.
of ‘the Victoria Chamber -of-
Conimerce, « disputed » Pép-
per's assessment of the west-
ern influence at the Canadian
chamber's annual mecting,

“I was there and it didn't
happen,” he’ said in a tele-
phone interview..“We have,
found the Canadian chamber,
in its presentations to the .
federal: cabinet, has not rep-
resented us and in fact has
been inaccurate."".. .

“We have been misrepre-

atill represents Ontario and *
aucter:

" sented because.the chamber’ -

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NOTICE TO PARENTS |

SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 9 (CASTLEGAR)

The Board of School Trustees has approved

the following ‘ ‘Profésstonal ’ pave’ up to

‘June 26, 1981,

Friday, dan. 23

_ Monday, Jan. 26

Thursday, Feb, 5
~" Friday; Feb. 6"

Friday, March 13",

Monday, June]

Wedne day.

‘|. Friday, Feb, 20°.

Friday, March 20

‘eachors in ettendance only

- Pass Creek
3 Robson”
qeisje/sheneeee
Woodland Park °
: Twin Rivers
% Castlegar Primary
iH
. Kindergartens
“Blueberry Creek
Ootischenia

Reshestosend! Days: -
24

‘Spring Break:

All school the district will be closed for Sprin
Bragk from pril 13- 20 inclusive, :

0

oat eh prve
et sam ro

e
See

MAIL COUPON TODAY TO. AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT. © :~
' * musT BE 19 YEARS OF AGEOR MORE TOBE ELIGIBLE:

AGE

. POSTAL CODE

~ CHEQUE ENCLOSED $
EARLY BIRD DRAWS: JAN. 29 & FEB.26
FINAL DRAW APRIL 30, 1981

SponsonedBy: B.C. ASSOCIATION
FOR THE MENTALLY RETAR
P.O, Box 58300 Station L Vancouver, B.C. -VEP GES

261-1819
2

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