Cornwall ON - Do you have a service, business, event or organization you want to promote?   Notice the impossibly high cost of reaching your target clients?   Contact The Cornwall Free News & Seawayradio.com to find out just how affordable and powerful a job we can do for you.

We had over 20,000 viewers and 13o,000 page views in June.   That can be handy for a small business or local organization wanting to get the word out.  Want to know if your advertising is working?  We have tools to give you stats on how much traffic your content really gets.

Whether you want to just keep your name in the public eye, or want to create an impact marketing campaign we can assist.

Ottawa is our largest market, followed by Cornwall Ontario.   Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary are in our top 10; we reach every community large and small across Canada.    Valleyfield?  Morrisburg, Moose Creek?  We have you covered.   Brockville? Yep.  Kingston?  Absolutely.

Join the fastest growing media outlet in Eastern Ontario and see how far your advertising, marketing, and promotional dollars can stretch!  Whether for local, provincial or National coverage compare us to other media.

We have some amazing opportunities developing to sponsor shows in Seawayradio.com and our Digital magazine, Seaway Today debuts November 20, 2010 in time for the Holiday Season.

Call our hotline at 613.361.1755 or email us at info@cornwallfreenews.com for more information.

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Cornwall ON – Is the world about to enter a long Depression?  We’ve heard about a “jobless recovery” but there’s really no such thing.

I use the analogy of having a leak in your pool ( I know a very bourgeois analogy).   Instead of fixing the leak you simply turn on your hose.   The level stays near the same until you turn off the water.

Most of the world government’s choice in dealing with the recession of 2008 was to print and borrow “stimulus” money.  Here in Canada the Harper Government had what they called the “Economic Action Plan” and spent millions promoting their efforts which essentially shovel ready infrastructure plans.

Our new arena in Cornwall is getting a blast of those dollars.    Car companies were propped up and for reasons that apparently only a banker or politician can explain monies were pumped into successful Canadian banks.

We in Canada have weathered the storm better than many other countries, but what history shows is that what effects your neighbour ultimately effects you.

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We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.

And who will pay the price for this triumph of orthodoxy? The answer is, tens of millions of unemployed workers, many of whom will go jobless for years, and some of whom will never work again.

Taxpayers now have to pay not only for their own survival, but the countries with  a mass of extra debt that really didn’t help the average person.   Now governments are talking tough talk about deficits, slashing spending, and prudence after spending billions around the globe which of course will lead to …..deflation, job cuts, and if as predicted.

A Depression.

The G20/G8 meetings in Toronto end today.   The big news coming out of them is that Stephen Harper is writing a cheque for over a billion dollar commitment  in foreign aid in a time of recession to grab some photo time and that Mr. Sarkozy stated that his summit will cost 10% of what Canada spent.

What do you think Canada?  You can post your comments below.

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Cornwall ON – Boycott BP is the buzz word on Facebook and across many minds as the flow of oil continues and the impact on the US coastline is starting to increase.

I spoke at a rally this weekend and what I said is that we need an “Evolution, not Revolution.”   I think that instead of boycotting BP we need to BUY BP, and any company that isn’t a good corporate citizen.

It can be as painless as simply changing your RRSP’s a bit.   I’m hoping that one day in the not too distant future there will be funds exactly built on the premise of having environmentally minded people take over, or have a say in companies by buying up their shares.

Protests only go so far; after all they are only words.  Blowing up things, as was recently done to an RBC branch in Ottawa doesn’t send a message, or at least one that will result in the type of reactions that people with a political goal can really hope to achieve.

BP right now is spending millions on Google and other search engines trying to cover the agenda on the spill.   They are talking about still giving out over $7 BILLION dollars in dividends this week while still not responding the the Obama administration’s demands of funding for a victim’s compensation fund.

BP needs to pay for this crisis.  All of it.   Because they chose and still continue to choose to not drill relief wells at the same time as the major well this crisis is going to forever change our world.   We need to learn from this lesson and frankly whomever made these choices at BP needs to be removed from their position.

We need to make sure that companies like BP do their drilling and activities in the safest way possible.  In the end we pay for it no matter what so we may as well call the shots.

If you really care about this tragedy you do have options.   Your voice is important, and your vote really does count.

BP shares are down over half their price from when their rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.  IF you really want to send them a message buy some BP shares and become an owner and work from within.

Evolution, not Revolution.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

What do you think Canada?  You can post your comments below.

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Cornwall ON - Gold has hit a new record as European markets shrink amid further recession fears.   This amidst drops in the Pound and edging still downwards of the Euro.    Oil is also flat and the BP situation also is causing a lot of concerns not only for the loss of revenue, but issues of possible new regulations and cost to drilling.

In the US, markets had their worst two day drop in over a year led by tech giants Apple and Google

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Financial stocks turned lower as the U.S. panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis issued a subpoena to Goldman Sachs after the Wall Street firm failed to hand over documents in a “timely manner.”

So how’s your investment portfolio doing?  We’re going to ask a local expert to join us shortly on Seawayradio.com to talk about money and how to surf through these choppy financial time.

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CIBC Visa Cardholders Charged More Interest in Ontario than in Quebec

Cornwall ON -In the April CIBC VISA card statements, an updated Cardholder Agreement was enclosed explaining some recent changes.

Written in legal language that is difficult to read and understand, as of September 1, 2010 cardholders will be paying more interest on their purchases. It matters not that banks continually show record- breaking profits even during a recession, they consistently change the rules to skim more profit from the working class and middle class people.

I contacted the CIBC VISA Centre to confirm my understanding of these changes.  Here is a concrete example of how the new policy is intended to work.

A VISA cardholder has a balance of zero. He spends $100 in month #1 and makes a $10 payment.

The balance on the card for the next month will be $90 plus interest on the full $100 because only a partial payment was paid.

In month #2, the person spends $200 so the new balance will be $200 + $90 + interest + interest on all the new purchases!

In other words, the bank does not give you a chance to pay the $200 without interest, because a full payment was not made on the account the previous month. So essentially, the bank punishes you in month #2 because you only made a partial payment in month #1. The banks call this ‘residual interest’.

It gets worse.

This policy does not apply if you live in Quebec- only if you reside in one of the other Canadian provinces. In Quebec, the banks are not permitted to charge ‘residual interest,’ so using the above example, interest would not be charged on the $200 in month #2 if it was indeed paid in full by the due date.

In conclusion, there are several questions here:

Why is the Canadian government allowing the banks to charge residual interest at all, since it is unfairly punitive and adds large amounts of interest and creates more consumer debt. Why have the banks implemented this change in the middle of the worse global recession since the 1930’s, as people are struggling to stay out of debt?  Finally, why is Quebec the only province in Canada to get preferred treatment by the banks?

People in Canada need to send this letter or one similar to their MP and MPP asking them to investigate this matter, and put pressure on the banks to remove the residual interest clause before September 1, 2010, and put this money back in to the pockets of Canadian taxpayers, except those in Quebec who are already exempt from this usurious interest grab by the banks.

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON - So why all the false stories about GM paying back their government bail out?    According to media reports GM has paid back some of the monies given to them with other monies given to them to bail them out.  They also secured more financing at a lessor interest rate.

When you read news about companies like Ford that took no bail out monies improving that feels a heck of a lot better than reading this story.

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(The Canadian government likewise gave GM $1.4 billion as a pure loan, and another $8.1 billion for an 11.7% equity stake. The U.S. and Canadian government together own 72.5% of the company.)

In short, GM is using government money to pay back government money to get more government money. And at a 2% lower interest rate at that. This is a nifty scheme to refinance GM’s government debt–not pay it back!

These definitely are not by father’s Oldsmobiles….oh, they don’t make Oldsmobiles anymore…

I think the car business is simple like most others.  Build good products and take care of your customers.  If you do that generally everything work out if you bust your hump and work hard.

As a small business owner I can’t stand the fact that our governments are rewarding big companies that have only proven to be failures.

What do you think Canada?  Should the government have given GM a bailout in the first place?  You can post your comments below.

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Cornwall ON - As I write this there’s an awful lot of oil heading towards the Louisiana coastline; some of which has already advanced into pockets and is impacting wildlife and the environment.

So far very little has been done; and it looks like this will be even bigger than the Exxon Valdez in impact on nature.   Sadly we live in a world where the term “Social Engineering” silently is at play.

Remember those Alaskan Oil fields the Bush government so badly wanted to exploit?  Well when oil prices spike and a recession hits the economy it makes it politically easier to try and make such changes.

For years people have been warning against oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico for this exact type of crisis.

Who will pay for the clean up?  You and I.  Not most likely BP; at least not enough.  I’m sorry doesn’t cut it and is used too frequently in our society.   I’m sorry is only two words.  It’s the actions that count.    The sad reality is that there is no way to make a company like BP and others truly accountable.  Their lawyers will do their best to cushion the blow to them; the governments won’t do much either other than tax those whose voice is least heard to pay for this mess.

As we see now entire communities may have their lives changed forever.

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“This is going to be the biggest economic disaster to hit Louisiana,” he said. “It could be 10 times the economic damage of Hurricane Katrina.”

Joe Melton, a crabber from nearby Reggio, said that at least there was work for those who returned after storm to St. Bernard, where almost all of the parish’s 27,000 dwellings were flooded. He said he never wanted to live anywhere other than these towns, strung along the boat-lined bayous, where new vacation camps stand next to rubble left from the storm.

“I was gone three years, five months, 10 days and 12 hours and I came back because this is my home,” he said, with tears in his eyes. “This makes Katrina look like a birthday party.”

And that Ladies & Gentlemen is where those living on the coast of Louisiana lie.   So please consider that if you’re driving a gas guzzling SUV, or burning oil to heat your home, or poo poo alternative energy research or criticize electric cars.

It’s time for Canada to take its snout out of the Oil Sands and put it into sustainable research and better use of oil until we no longer need it.   You can fuel cars on water; why aren’t we exploiting and developing that?   We have some of the worlds greatest Hydro Electric resources; why is China leading the way in Electric car technology instead of us?

Why should it take disasters like what’s going on in the Gulf of Mexico and to the people of Louisiana to make this a discussion point?

It’s time to hold those accountable for tragedies like this fully accountable, and it’s time to stop putting the goals of certain multi-national corporations ahead of the needs of those that pay taxes day in and day out.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON - It looks like Mortgage rates will be going up again by June according to several media reports regarding the Bank of Canada rates.  Some are speculating that the rate hike will be as high as half a point.

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“Removing the conditional commitment … [is] as good as cementing a June 1 hike,” said Derek Holt, vice-president of economics at Scotia Capital. “That leaves open the debate over whether 25 basis points or 50 basis points is likely.”

Guess it’s time to renew before rates really jump.  What do you think Canada?  Are you going to renew?  Are you considering buying a home while rates are relatively low?  Post your comments below.

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Cornwall ON – Mortgage rates have gone up for the second time in less than a month as the cost of borrowing rises which is scary news for home owners in Canada as the potential for 80′s style hyper inflation hovers over the recession.

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RBC kicked off the increases in March when it increased the price of fixed-rate five-year mortgages by 0.60 percentage points to 5.85 per cent; many rivals followed suit. Following Tuesday’s move, RBC and Scotiabank’s posted rates will be 6.10 per cent.

What do you think Canada?  Is now the time to lock in before rates rise higher or steady the course?    You may post your comments below.

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Cornwall and S.D.G.’s Summer Company Seeks Young Entrepreneurs

The Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre (CBEC) is now accepting applications for Summer Company 2010. Students between the ages of 15-29 years of age who are interested in learning more about business could receive awards of up to $3,000 to start their own business.

Summer Company is a program sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
(MEDT) and administered by the CBEC to encourage students to start and run their own business. Participants receive hands on business training and are provided a mentor to guide them through the business stages and assist with questions they may have.

“If you are looking for something fun and exciting to do before you go back to school in September, then Summer Company is just what you’re looking for,” says Alyssa Blais, Business Consultant of the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre. “You’ll get up to $3,000 to run the business you’ve always wanted to while learning all about business and growing your network of friends. You’ll even earn some money along the way. It’ll be the most exciting and rewarding summer you’ve ever had.”

Cornwall has seen numerous successful small businesses get their start through the Summer Company program. Last year, Troy Lapierre wanted to operate a fresh produce roadside stand in Summerstown so he purchased an industrial sized tiller to get his fields ready for planting.

Summer Company 2009 alum Taylan Yu operated a T-Shirt printing business that printed original designs created by the customer directly onto a shirt. Kate Irwin, artist and winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009, started Kanvas by Kate, a business focused on custom artwork and designs. She spent part of her summer at the Cornwall Farmers’ Market doing outdoor portrait paintings and custom face painting.

Spaces for Summer Company 2010 are limited. Interested students are encouraged to visit
http://www.ontario.ca/summercompany for more information on eligibility and program
requirements or to fill out an application.

Alyssa Blais, Business Consultant at the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre is available for assistance in completing applications by calling 613-932-7925 or by email: ablais@cornwall.ca

We’re going to be watching those young entrepreneurs accepted for this year’s program and see if we can help them on their journey.  It should be interesting and exciting to watch!

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