8 - Friday, September 27, 1985 - North Shore News Life f Of course, Sergeant Balfour, welcome home. Glad you've decided to join the happy Simpson's family again. Had a good war? Good. Your pay will be $17 a week, “I thought, not so good. If (the landlady) could bounce my board and room with cabbage three times a week from $26 to $35, then the high and mighty Simpson’s could do better. than three..,."" Excerpt from Barry Broadfoot’s new oral history book The Veterans‘ Years. ‘THIS BOOK is a gas. It’s about what faced the veterans when they got home and how they managed later. And it’s not just. about veterans. It’s about their wives (the story of the upper- class English war-bride and the slummy wilderness shack is a classic), their girl friends, and the battlefields of peace. One. such battlefield — although no shots were fired — was the occupation of the old Hotel Vancouver by ex- soldiers who could find no place to live. Housing was at a premium, most of the men “were out of luck, and sym- ‘pathy wasii’t cash, As one: Hotel ‘Vancouver squatter put -it: “People in Vancouver ‘didn’t -.know about the housing shortage. “That’s the trouble I ‘found with civilians. They. didn’t - know bugger-all. “The war had, been a nice time: for them...’’. Unfair, ‘no doubt. ‘But a | vet's eye-view. ‘Not. that. the. majority felt the world.owed them .a' living, as the: book ‘shows. But ‘it was pretty “tough when a guy found out he couidn’t..even: trust . his mother, which was what he . pened to a wounded Cape Bretoner. He got back after four years only to find that his dear old Mum had spent every penny of the money he'd been sending home ail that time to be saved for him. TS get this straight ‘Doug’ Collin Not only that, but she was . sleeping. with some klunk who had helped her to spend it. But. the. vet did O.K. He Teachers « | object to survey / / From Page to ‘the’ [survey’s: 2° displayed ’ findings become apparent, satisfaction. with: “schools, the ‘survey: lists 79 “per, cent” as, being - satisfied, “Of. 4,367" ‘elementary. parents polled as. to. their an the ~ . district's ’ superintendent . of ‘them to,” said Regan. eThe ~~ method used in this survey is : very crude and, as a result, ‘gives. very inaccurate infor- mation.” As to the alleged inac- ‘curacy.of the surveys, which ost .the district: $2,744, ‘mnisleading at all.’’ Because the 1983 survey: chad’ ‘used the controversial - method: of. percentage accurate. com-~; |. arisons: ‘necessitated the |. calculation, district use the same method r vets propriate. I don’t think it is |. ‘in-the -1985: survey, Brayne added. wo moved to Toronto, got into the second-hand furniture business, and screwed everyone else. Landladies were not exact- ly true patriots all, either. “In Edmonton,” relates one chap, ‘‘they must have been a special breed and they attend- ed night school classes to learn how to be meaner than they were.... “But we had it good com- pared ta some of my (univer- sity student) vet classmates. Some of them were living in garages with an electric cord strung out of the house and | ‘programs which are = aimed at yety spe- Pe lay's highly competitive and rapidly changing job marketplace has left many Canadians frustrated and unable to find satisfying and lasting employment. At the same time employers are often unable to hire people with the specific skills they need. The new Jobs Strategy now offers a . flexible and comprehensive set of programs to bring together: the needs of workers Broadfoot reports the good as well as the bad. And often, even the tougher stories are laced with humor. There was the Canadian Women's Army Corps girl, for instance, who was living in a barn somewhere in Alberta with her ex-service husband. A bureaucrat wrote to say the land they were try- ing to work was not ‘“viable.’’ What was ‘viable?’ The CWAC told Broad- foot: ‘‘I looked it up... and it [i is clear that Canadians need 1 more re jobs and businesses want to develop and expand. said something that‘ could or | might be. worthwhile. Our fand wasn’t worthwhile! Ed- die and I sat there in that beer parlor and he started to get drunk and so was I, I guess, and now and again he’d shout ‘‘Viable!’’ It got so the bartender thought it was Ed- die’s way of ordering four more beers, and Eddie said that word a lot of times that afternoon.”’ The joys of loving were mixed, too. “If you were lucky you married a girl you loved and who loved you. Some of us That's why the Government of Canada, in co- operation with the provinces, territories and the private sector, has initiated a comprehensive new Canadian Jobs Strategy. The Jobs Strategy is a fundamental change i in the way we invest in our most important resource - the people of Canada. The built-in incentives of the strategy encourage employers todevelop: new jobs and establish training programs which will lead to skilled and lasting employment, _ A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO. - | CREATE SKILLED AND LASTING EMPLOYMEN’ | ‘JOB ENTRY. The first job after school, or ‘after a long absence from the workforce, is often the: hardest to get. Job Entry will make it easie: for young people to move from school to |. work and for women to re-enter the job). market. This program wil! help break the. . vicious circle of “No job because you have’ no. experience and no experience because y you. _ Can't get a job." Practical m.cning w: be pro-- “Support to individuals empl igh government and on-the-job i. experience. ‘ing a combination of training ~and direct work experience. « - JOB DEVELOPMENT When'some people are | [ _ The Goverment of ‘Canada will cover many of the employer's direct costs for trai in job categories in which work is available...’ ane ferd but for which there are ‘currently too few oft skilled Canadians. ‘ _ INNOVATIONS: The Inriovations program loo future of the Canadian workplace. It will a asa catalyst to tap the creative resources ot both sad, funn the landlady would pull the plug at eleven at night.” just asked the first, girl who looked good and laughted a lot. I know I did. After that first year 1 needed someone with me who vas a laugher. But this one , laughed- too much. She drove me nuts. It was better than nobody, though....’” Lenjoyed every page of this book. If you're old, buy it in remembrance of things past. If you’re young,: buy-it to find out what life was like before we all became cissies. The Veterans’..Years, by Barry Broadfoot,: Douglas & Melntyre, $ $19, 95. . ‘ti the . outof work fora long time. it is often because the skills ’ they do have are not the skills * that are needed out there in the jo! arket. x To help Canadians who aré experiencing’. ” , long-term unemployment, Job Development . projects assist businesses and communities | to provide training and practical work ° . “experience which will . build up an individuat marketable skills and . - improve opportunities for lasting employment.’ . SKILL SHORTAGES The Skill Shortages B program will help em- a. ployers develop’ skilled ’.. labour to increase produc- tivity ‘ind competitiveness, Toencourage | ~ “employers to train Canadian workers in skills for which there are shortages. training assis- = tance programs have been created. : .cific and real dif- : ficulties being ° experienced by people looking for work in communities all over Canada. The programs ~ assist people who have been displaced by technological changes in the workplace, young - people looking for their first job, women re- .. ‘eritering the workforce, and individuals experiencing long-term — unemployznent,Peoplewho ‘ate having a hard time get- ‘ting a suitable job will find programs in the Strategy to aid them in gaining skills © which willmake them more employable now and in the tuture, SKILL INVESTMENT : To prepare and train Canadians for future : jobs and to guard against their skills becom- ing obsolete due totechnological change. the -. Skill Investment program will give employers and employees the chance to adaptto chang: : ing conditions which cai: threaten job | security. The program encoutages employers © and employees to work togethertodevelop _ training programs tor their mutual benefit. The program is flexible enough to meet the needs of individual employees. Training courses may be taken on the job or at any training institution. regional concerns, or issu which are national in scop The Community Futures program be developed to better understand, an ici and respond to the impact of social and’’ technological change in communities. ‘The program will address the real ani pressing needs of communities by bi involved in initiatives > proposed from within the community itself... The particular strengths ofa community can be the basis of its econo- mic resilience. and the @ Community Fucures ff program will build on these strengths by pro- Ih viding timely support mm and resources, “For detailed literature either'send in the coupon below, visit your local ata ouinashours L~ 800-387-0610 I ~ THE CANADIAN JOBS STRATEGY. - - “WORKING OPPORTUNIT TES FOR PEOPLE. “For further information ori these programs, sendi in this coupon: | ‘ Name anes — _— fis | t eas prant clearly i & Employment and Emploi et Immigration Canada Immigration Canada | Address. Town. | Province. Postal Code. Please mail to: Employment & Immigration Canada, Alta Vista Terminal PO. Box 9761, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 4E6 ast Canad