Time just as valuable as money
If people can’t donate money, the Salvation Army encourages them to donate time to this year's Christmas campaign.
“It’s really important for Canadians to support this year,” Andrew Burditt, territorial public relations director for the Salvation Army told thedailyplanet.com. “Financial donations are great, volunteering your time is just as important. If someone can’t honestly donate money, stand on a Kettle for three hours.”
Christmas Kettles are part of the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas campaign to help raise funds to fight poverty throughout the Christmas season and the rest of the year.
The campaign kicked off on Nov. 16 and will run until Dec. 24.
This year, the Salvation Army will use more than 2,000 volunteers, or bell-ringers as they’ve been dubbed, on the Christmas Kettles, spokesperson for the Ontario Central East division of the Salvation Army, Captain John Murray told thedailyplanet.com.
“We have more than 500 Christmas kettles this season in the GTA,” said Murray. The bell-ringers will be everywhere from malls and storefronts to outside the LCBO.
“Certainly the ideal minimum shift would be two hours,” said Murray, adding most people end up giving more due to the screening process.
“They’re dealing with the public and there’s public funds involved, so we do screen people very closely for each position,” said Murray.
The screening process is to ensure that the volunteers’ motivations and commitment aligns well with those of the Salvation Army. They also do a background check and follow-up on references.
“Sometimes people will volunteer eight or 10 hours over a season, some people will volunteer several weeks over the holiday season,” said Murray.
“Last year, the actual physical kettles nationwide raised $16 million,” said Burditt. “That $16 million is in the middle of a recession and that was actually up 14 per cent from 2007.”
The Army didn’t set any specific fundraising goals this year due to the economy, but Burditt said it would be great if they could reach and exceed $16 million.
Burditt said he thinks this year, due to the current economic downturn, it is especially important for Canadians to get involved.
“Demand for our services is 10 to 40 per cent, depending on what province you go to,” said Burditt.
“The Salvation Army has a long history of us just basically doing more with less if necessary,” said Burditt. “What it comes down to is if you come to the Salvation Army for assistance, you won’t be turned away.”
Three years ago, the Salvation Army introduced the iKettle, which is an online virtual kettle that people can set up to help raise funds.
“The first year we did it [the online drive] only raised $40,000. It raised awareness more than it raised funds. Last year it raised closer to $140,000,” said Burditt.
Those interested in making a donation or volunteering their time can do so by going to salvationarmy.ca or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769).
DriveTest workers have overwhelmingly voted against a final offer presented by their employer, Serco.
Jim Young, president of United Steelworkers Union Local 9511, which represents the workers, said the offer was rejected because demands regarding job security and seniority continue to be ignored.
Seventy eight per cent voted against the Nov. 11 offer, a result which illustrates the union continues to stand in vast majority, Young told thedailyplanet.com.
“They need to start to realize that it needs to be fair to its employees,” he said.
This is the second time the union has rejected a final offer from Serco, who is contracted by the province to provide all licensing tests. Employees refused an earlier deal Nov. 3.
Serco, announced Nov. 12 that two centres have opened to deal with some of the 300,000 overflow of drivers who require a licence for their job.“They are being very selective,” said Young. According to a Toronto Star article, there are two centres open in the Toronto area and four others in Ottawa, Kitchener, North Bay and Thunder Bay.
Serco managers are running these centres and they will be offering road tests for commercial classified licenses only. Written tests are available for all classes.
Young questions their training, however, and said, “They are discriminating against those who need a car licence and still being selective of drivers who need a commercial licence.”
Drivers who have to renew their licence, but do not need to write a road test can do so at Ontario Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Offices.
DriveTest workers have been off the job since Aug. 23.
A mention of peace organizations on Remembrance Day may invoke visions of protests against veterans, but most peace activists say they support Remembrance Day and see it as their job to ask people to look to the future and question the necessity of war.
“The usual response people have toward us on Remembrance Day is to think we want to protest or are anti-soldier,” James Clark of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War told thedailyplanet.com. “We make the distinction between the war and the decision to go to war which is made by the government.”
Bruna Nota, vice-president of the Canadian chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Justice, told thedailyplanet.com she has “enormous respect for people who have fought and are fighting and sacrificing greatly. The role of peace groups (on Remembrance Day) is to create a real dialogue about the constant state of war preparation and the government, universities, and corporations who all contribute to this constant preparation for war.”
“There are two prongs to Remembrance Day,” said Nota, “honour and respect for the combatants and the second prong is remembering the civilians who have died, the civilian death and destruction.”
Roberto Verdecchia, Canadian co-ordinator of the World March for Peace and Non-violence, told thedailyplanet.com it is not enough to demand peace, because it is the means used achieve peace that are most important.
“There’s an apology for the use of violence that’s common in Remembrance Day,” said Verdecchia. “Too many groups don’t differentiate between peace and non-violence. Everyone wants peace, even George Bush said he wanted peace when he invaded Iraq, but someone needs to say, ‘how about non-violence?’”
Former Ontario deputy premier George Smitherman announced Monday his intention to run for mayor of Toronto in 2010.
"Toronto is in desperate need of strong leadership," said Smitherman at a news conference at Queen's Park on Monday morning announcing his candidacy.
Smitherman, a member of the provincial legislature since 1999, representing Toronto Centre said in a statement released Monday that he has the experience, the energy, the passion and record of accomplishment to lead Toronto in a new direction.
The twice re-elected Etobicoke native has served as Ontario's minister of energy and infrastructure as well as deputy premier until Sunday, when he submitted his resignation to the premier.
"He will be staying on as the MPP for Toronto Centre for a short time while he finishes several projects in his community," McGuinty said in a statement released Sunday night.
Referring to himself as "a candidate of the broad centre," Smitherman told the Toronto Star his campaign, expected to launch sometime before March, would include people from all parties.
Under the current rules, mayoral candidates cannot register until January.
Veteran Liberal MPP for Scarborough-Agincourt and former minister of energy, Gerry Phillips, will replace Smitherman as head of the energy and infrastructure ministries, in the short term, according to The Canadian Press.
There will be no deputy premier until a larger cabinet shuffle in the new year.
The 45-year-old political trailblazer, who was Ontario's first openly gay MPP when he was elected in 1999, served as a key aide to former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. He could face off against political rival, former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory, who has made it clear he hasn't ruled out a run for mayor next fall.
Tory leads the pack of undeclared candidates for mayor of Toronto by a wide margin, according to a recent poll by Angus Reid Strategies. Of decided voters, 46 per cent said they would vote for the former Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader with Smitherman polled distant second with 21 per cent.
Nelson Wiseman, associate professor of political science at University of Toronto, told thedailyplanet.com that while polls indicate a strong showing for Tory, Smitherman’s portfolio could give him an advantage.
“He’s been the energy and infrastructure minister, which has been vital to Toronto. If he does get elected, he’ll know what doors to knock on and who the players are. He’ll be familiar with the bureaucratic machinery,” Wiseman said.
Tory was defeated by current Mayor David Miller in 2003.
Miller announced in late September that he would not seek a third term.
Canada lost about 43,000 jobs in the month of October, according to the Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada on Nov. 6.
“It casts doubt on the strength of the economic recovery, that’s for sure,” Sal Guatieri, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets told thedailyplanet.com.
October’s numbers contrast with the job market’s performance in August and September, in which 27,000 and 31,000 jobs were created, respectively.
“I think the previous two month’s reports were exaggerating the strength in the labour market,” Guatieri said.
Private Sector Still Shedding Jobs
Guatieri said a “worrisome” factor outlined in the survey is that the private sector continues to cut jobs.
“Canadian businesses just aren’t hiring and that reflects cautiousness about the economic outlook,” he said.
In October 45,000 private sector jobs were lost while the public sector cut 26,000.
Self-employment rising
The month’s negative employment figures were offset by a gain of 28,000 jobs in self-employment.
Usually, Guatieri said, many self-employed jobs can pay well and create more jobs for Canadians.
“But generally during an economic downturn what happens is people get laid off and then they are forced to create their own jobs,” he said. “Some of these jobs may not be high-paying positions and may not result in spin-of jobs.”
Guatieri said the decline in employment will weaken consumer spending and the economy in general.
“We think job growth will resume around the turn of the year, in Canada, as business activity picks up," he said. “But right now it all points towards a fairly modest economic recovery.”