BA - Wednesday, February 22, 1984 -

North Shore News

IT’S THURSDAY ‘Morning. at 10 a.m. and there
are 20 people in the North Shore Family Service
room. They range in age from the early 20s to over
60 and while the group is predominantly male,

there are a few women.

By NEWS STAFF

The members of the group
_have one thing in common —
they’ve all been through the

PROGRAM LEADER Halil
de Grace...

gut- and ego-wrenching ex- |

perience of losing their mid-

dle and upper management
jobs. -

“People like Hal De Grace,
for instance, who lost his ex-
ecutive position with-a major

‘drug store chain two and a
half years ago.

’ For two hours on this
Thursday morning De Grace,

who used the opportunity of-

joblessness to return: to
university to earn a degree in
adult education, will lead the
group through discussion
aimed at helping them cope
with their situation.

De Grace and his 19
““students’” are half-way
through an eight-week pro-
gram aimed at helping them
cope with the past — their
losing their jobs — and
prepare for the future.

By the end of the process,
says De Grace, they'll not on-
ly understand why they lost
their jobs but what the new
world is like and how they
can fit into it.

De Grace says his own ex-
perience and his initial reac-
tion to the loss of his own job
have prepared him well to
tead the group.

“*I was told at 4 p.m. that I
was through and advised at
4:30 to be gone,’’ he says of
his own lay-off. ‘‘] didn’t
’ quite understand some of the
things that had taken place. I

wondered why they would let |

a good man go.”’

De Grace, who now runs a
private adult education firm
and does contract work for
his former employee, says it
took eight months for him to
understand how his situation
came about.

The group he’s leading
now in North Vancouver, by
comparison, will have a full
understanding of their situa-
tions — and be in a position
to deal with them — at the
end of the eight weeks of
sessions.

The first three meetings of
the group have dealt with
changes in the world, iden-
tification of individual needs
and an attempt to determine
actions to take in light of the
first two.

leads economy's
victims...

Working with Alvin
Tofler’s The Third Wave and
Megatrends by John Naisbitt
as textbooks, De Grace has
pushed the ‘‘realism”’’ that
society is changing from an
industrial base to an informa-
tion base and the need for
“plain, ordinary common
sense’’.

This Thursday, for exam-
ple, the schedule called for a

look at what actions the in-
dividual members could také
and how they can get back in-
to the community and feel
better about themselves.

De Grace says those in-
volved in the process are
beginning to respond to the
sessions.

... into future... e

**Two of them, as a matter
of fact, have bid for projects
at Expo ‘86 and one of them
should get it,”’ De Grace
says.

The acceptance of the pro-
gram may also be indicated
by the leap in the number of
participants from 11 at the
Start to the current 19..

De Grace, who leads two
similar groups and works
under contract for three cor-
porations, shares the credit
for the success of the pro-
gram with participants and
with North Shore Family
Services.

“They (Family Services)
deserve a lot of credit for
what they’ve stuck their
necks out to do,’’ De Grace

THE ROYAL Bank of
Canada’s ‘Trendicator’, a
composite index: of seven.
leading economic indicators,
showed a slight decline in the
fourth quarter of 1983 but
this is not regarded as a
Significant signal of
economic let-down later in
1984.

The bank’s economists say
the decline is relatively small
and follows four consecutive
increases of which two, dur-
ing the first half of 1983,
were the strongest in the
leading index’s history.

**In this respect,”” says the’

“Trendicator’ Report, ‘“‘the
fourth-quarter behaviour of
*Trendicator’ does not alter
our view that
growth in Canada should
continue al a respectable pace
through 1984.””

Partial data indicate that
the value of the leading index
fell at an annual rate of 1.3
per cent to 100.70 during the
fourth quarter.. According to

“the report, the indicators

reflecting financial market

* conditions, in particular the

equity markets, were primari-
ly responsible for this slight
decline in the index.

The TSE price/earnings
ratio dropped significantly
for the second consecutive
quarter but nevertheless still
averaged 22.7, far above its
historical trend.

“*In part, the decline in this
component reflects the sharp-
ly improved carnings of re-
cent quarters. And it was the
earlier wide anticipation of
those earnings that led to the
very steep rise in the
price/earnings ratio in the
first place,”’ according to the
report. *“‘The fact that the

ratio is still at a relatively.

24 HOURS
TELEPHONE
ANSWERING SERVICE j

ONLY

$S0O PER MONTH

CLASSIFIED
ANSWERING SERVICE

669-7973

economic |

GETTING OVER THE SHOCK Economy. to improve —
elp for jobless

high level suggests continued

business confidence in

economic conditions.”’

Four of the index’s seven
leading indicators continued
to rise. Below-average in-
creases were estimated for:
the average length of the
manufacturing workweek,
primary steel production, the
new-order/inventory ratio
for export-based industries

and the residential construc- .

tion index.
Belowcaverage decreases
were estimated. for the new-

order/ inventory ratio for {
consumer durable industries

and recorded for the
inflation-adjusted value of
the money supply. An above-
average decrease was record-
ed fore the TSE price/earn-
ings ratio.

Do: need TELEX
dont have the volume
to justify your own

CALL & COMPARE
Westwind
Services -

Tax Tips

What types of income are not taxable?

Answer.

The following incomes are nol taxed. and do not have to be

included in your income: Child Tax Credit, Guaranteed In-

come Supplement, Lottery Winnings, Spouse's Allowance,

Veterans’ disability and dependent pensioners’ payments,

War Veterans’ allowances. Welfare payments, Workers’

compensation payments. and certain government grants.
For a FREE C.G.A. Tax Tips brochure call or visit:

PERRAULT, SMYTH & COMPANY

Certified General Accountants
102-1975 Lonsdale Avenue

North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2K3

987-8101

Get more
out of Life

with an RRSP that counts

Most of us hope that our hard
work today will result in security
and comfort in retirement. That's
why Equitable looks at an RRSP as
more than a way to defer taxes.
Our specialists can help you
achieve your long-term savings
goals while taking advantage of

“NOT
JUST ANOTHER
ANSWERING SERVICE

980-3611

tax deferment opportunities.
Call an Equitable Life agent today
to get more out of Life.

Whistler, B.C.
LOTS FOR SALE

15 Single Family
17 Duplex
27 Multi-Family or Pension

Nordic Village ts a fully serviced 64 acre subdivision offering
excelient fee simple buliding lots itis within walung aistance
of the Whistler Mountain Gondota life and ts across the high
way trom the beach at Alta Lake Wayside Park

Interested parties are invited to contact the Mbnisiry ot
Lands, Parks and Housing or a Whistler realtor to obtain
Getailed information § inctuding a price fist for the tots
Ministry of Lands, Parks & Housing

4240 Manor Street
Bumaby, B.C. V5G 182

BCE#

~~

EQUITABLE LIFE

OF CANADA

Telephone: (604) 438-5344

Ministry of Lands
Parks and Housing

tomoutaipee Anthony 3 levees
Aarenters

C.W. LEES,
320-1500 W. Georgia St.,
Vancouver, V6G 226
Tel: 685-8364