Jil McIntosh: Rude, Lewd & Tattooed

What do Toronto Life and the Terminator have in common?

I was reading the December issue of Toronto Life magazine, which featured a list of the "50 Most Influential" people. Number 22 was David Thomson, chairman of news provider Thomson Reuters. Thomson came through in the crunch when that company lost revenues last year, dropping from about $8.2 billion (yes, with a B) to a mere $7.9 billion.

From the story:

But the company's various budget-controlling measures, including cutting some 3,000 jobs in late 2013, have increased operating profits by approximately $94 million...

And that's when I thought of the Terminator movies. Y'see, I don't always take in movies the way most people do. There's a scene in Terminator 2 where Robert Patrick's shape-shifting character kills a security guard. We see the murdered guard with Patrick's spear-shaped hand through his head. Then the movie moves into the next scene and into the various car chases and robot fights and explosions.

And while everyone else waited breathlessly for the final showdown, I - admittedly a soft-hearted goof at times, and yes I know it's only a movie - thought about that security guard. Who was he? What happened when the police went to his family's house? How did they cope with the news? How many people came to the funeral? Did his wife have to sell their home, did his children do without?

Everyone else saw a split-second of a dead man impaled on a spear, and then their attention moved to the next exciting moment of the movie. My mind went to that separate story, of how something seemingly insignificant to the story being told will turn someone else's world upside down.

So people read Toronto Life, and read about how the company bounced back even higher after cutting 3,000 jobs. They went on to the next person on the list. Then they turned a couple more pages to a perfume ad, and then to one for a restaurant. And then they tossed the magazine away.

But I stayed stuck on those 3,000 jobs. Which are not three thousand jobs, but three thousand people. People with lives, with families. With bills to pay, with mouths to feed. People with others depending on them. People who pay taxes that fund our communities, who buy goods that keep the economy going. And when revenues drop from $8.2 billion to $7.9 billion, numbers that most of us can't possibly comprehend, then they are impaled on a spear, and the movie rushes to the next scene.

If you write such stuff, think about what you're writing. And if you read such stuff, don't just nod and turn the page. Think of three thousand people whose lives were turned upside down, because we don't stop to ask how much is enough. And that's just the beginning. When you lose your job, when your children can't find work, when it's all falling in on you, ask yourself: is someone else writing bloodless lines about this, and is someone else just turning the page?

 

 

Walmart: Racing to the bottom

In the news today, Walmart is experimenting with a new "Scan & Go" system that would let shoppers scan items with their iPhones while shopping, and then check out at a self-serve counter.

The reason? Well, in Official Corporate Gobblespeak, it's to test "new and innovative ways to serve customers and enhance the shopping experience in our stores," according to a Walmart spokesman.

The reality? Walmart's trying to save even more money by eliminating those pesky employee wages. According to the news report, every second in transaction time in the U.S. chain costs $12 million in cashier wages.

The real reality? Walmart already sets up giant stores that put local merchants out of business. It strong-arms suppliers to produce goods for the lowest possible prices, meaning that almost nothing for sale in the store is actually made locally. In some cases, once it's wiped out other stores and manufacturers, it becomes the largest employer in the community. And now it's seeking to reduce the number of people working in its stores.

Am I the only one picturing the last person standing, walking around an empty Walmart store, because no one else in the community has a job?

The reality is that not everyone can afford higher prices, and many have to shop at these discount department stores. But c'mon, people. If you make good money, spend it where it matters. Buy Canadian products whenever you can. Support your local merchants. Sure, it'll cost you a little more. Consider it an investment in the future of your community, your country, and your children. You can't spend your money any better than that.

Are you an immigrant near pension age? You need to read this!

An article in the Toronto Star caught my eye recently. There are many Canadian citizens getting close to the age where they can receive their Old Age Security pension, but because they were born elsewhere, the government's demanding proof of when they arrived.

That's the situation I'm in. I was born in the U.S., but because my parents were Canadian, I had dual Canada/U.S. citizenship from birth. When my parents divorced, my mother brought me to Canada. It was sometime in the 1960s and I'm not sure how old I was at the time.

Not a problem, I thought. I have a government-issued Canadian citizenship card and passport. I've paid taxes since I got my first job in 1977. I've never moved outside Ontario since I came here, and my longest visit to the U.S. was two weeks. But just to be sure, I called the pension office ... and discovered that yes, I have a problem. "You'll need the papers that show when you came into the country," the clerk said.

Now, my mother didn't have the time of day for red tape, and this was back when you didn't have to tell the customs officer much more than where you lived and where you were going. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what she did. She flashed her big baby blues at the officer and said, "We live in Florida, and we're on a vacation to Toronto to visit my parents." And that was the end of it.

Papers? We don't need no steenkeen papers ... except that now, I do. I had the pension office send me a statement of my pension contributions since 1977, but that's not enough. Both of my parents are dead, so I can't get anything there. I'm going to need more paperwork when I start my application twelve years from now. I'm hoping my schools kept records, and I'll be going to them when they reopen in the fall, but if they didn't, I'm not sure what will happen.

The government's trying to save every penny it can, and if it can avoid paying out several thousand pensions, I'm guessing it will. If you came to Canada as a child, and you don't have any documentation, starting looking now.

How long before we win the race to the bottom?

Toronto's in the midst of a strike by city workers, which is naturally raising debate on both sides of the issue. It prompted a political cartoon by Theo Moudakis in the Toronto Star that bothered me, because it illustrates how a huge number of people seem to be okay with the idea of our current race to the bottom.

The cartoon shows a city worker, in tuxedo and with snifter of brandy, carrying a sign that says, "Save our sick days," which refers to a contentious point in the negotiations where workers want to retain the current policy of being able to bank sick days and cash them out upon retirement. A man carrying a layoff notice is pointing a bullhorn at him and saying, "Earth to city workers!"

I won't get into the argument of the sick days per se, but this cartoon -- and the attitude of many who agree with it -- is what's bothering me. Layoffs are becoming commonplace in this economic meltdown, and as a result, anyone who still "has it good" has become cannon fodder. You shouldn't make $30 an hour, you shouldn't get full benefits, you shouldn't get a pension, you shouldn't be able to bank your sick days, you shouldn't get all of these things. Instead, you should be lucky you have a job.

And that's what's sending us at breakneck speed toward the bottom.

Certainly, I understand the frustration. And I also have a different perspective because I'm married to a unionized worker. But when I look at the big picture, it looks like I'm watching Upton Sinclair's The Jungle in reverse. That novel described the horrible lives of slaughterhouse workers around 1900, who had to work long hours, received little pay, had to do whatever was asked of them no matter how unsafe, and lost their income if they were sick or injured -- but at least they had a job.

Someone who has just lost his job would understandly be upset when someone else would go on strike to preserve what he perceives as perks. But once those perks are gone, they won't come back, and next time around, that worker will be asked to give up more. And when the laid-off man with the bullhorn does find employment again, chances are pretty slim that he'll be able to go back to what he had.

Everything you take for granted -- your roads, schools, police, fire protection, hospitals, parks, food safety, and so on -- is paid for with taxes. It may not seem fair that someone makes good money and gets benefits when his neighbor makes minimum wage, and his neighbor just lost his job. But consider this: do you want your neighborhood subsidized by someone making $30 an hour, or by someone whose job description is would you like fries with that?