Job help program axedA popular program that has helped the jobless set up their own businesses has been quietly axed by the provincial government. Hank Daniszewski |
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 [ 2009-10-22 ] |
Paul Brasser, a tool and die maker laid off by 3M enrolled in the provincial self-employment benefit program offered at London's small business centre and now owns and operates Cherry Hill Paint Services.
Pellarin said the program has operated here for about 14 years and has trained about 100 people a year to be entrepreneurs.
He said the program is more important than ever, with London facing an 11.2% unemployment rate.
"This program a long history and a long success record here in London. When the economy goes south and people can't find a job, they look to self-employment," Pellarin said.
That was the case for Paul Brasser, who was laid off from the London 3M plant. Although he's a trained tool and die maker, Brasser decided to set up his own painting business and enrolled in the Self-Employment Benefit program.
The program allowed Brasser to extend his unemployment benefits while he took training at the Small Business Centre in areas such as taxes, marketing and developing a business plan.
Brasser said his business, Cherryhill Paint Services, has been busy since it was launched in March. He has even hired an employee.
But Brasser said he "would not have known where to start" without the training. He said cutting the program leaves unemployed workers with fewer options.
"It's a very bad move. It's really bad timing," he said.
Across Ontario, the program trains about 3,000 people annually with a $61 million budget.
The only rationale for suspending the program offered in the ministry letter is that "Employment Ontario has seen an unprecedented number of clients applying for all of its programs."
In a recent interview, Training Colleges and Universities minister John Milloy noted the auditor-general had questioned the effectiveness of the program and said the government had to help those "most in need".
The province said it has been swamped with more than 20,000 applications for its new Second Career program that pays workers to retrain for a new job in another sector. The government has announced it will inject another $78 million to that program to deal with demand.
Ministry spokesperson Tanya Blazing would not comment on whether the money used from Self-Employment Benefit program is being diverted to Second Career.
Hank Daniszewski is a Free Press business reporter. hank.daniszewski@sunmedia.ca
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