We are so much a creature of the province, and much of the control, I'm afraid, is at that level. I've seen a lot of federal programs where, when a mill town shuts down, the federal government is quite interested in providing some help. I see that happening to a lot of retailers in towns all across Ontario, and probably the rest of Canada. This change in retail occurs on the outside of a small town. The same thing happens in that village square. The stores are empty, and I just don't think they're ever going to come back.
I think we have to address...it's not that the big box is wrong. They have a new, better model that the public likes. It's that something has been left, like the unproductive mine, and people are kind of stuck with that. I think it is a sector problem. Our particular type of service sector, small retail, is really in a bind. It would be nice to have some study work done on it.
I feel bad when a business closes because I know it's so much more devastating than in a lot of other situations when jobs are gone. Here, the investment is gone as well, and a lot of the striving and ego that the person has put into it.
There is no employment insurance available. I think that contributes to poor record keeping in terms of services. A lot of businesses that close aren't recorded because there is no filing for EI, and if they are a proprietorship or a partnership, there is no closing of a corporation, so a lot of data just doesn't occur.