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Cananda - Jobless Drink Beer

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CANADIAN PM ATTACKED FOR SAYING JOBLESS DRINK BEER

OTTAWA (Reuter) - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien came under fire
Thursday for suggesting that unemployed Canadians were sitting at home
swilling beer on the dole.
Quebec separatist leader Lucien Bouchard accused Chretien of crusading
against the jobless after promising them work and dignity to win the
elections last October.
``There is no dignity in this country in being unemployed and being
accused by the prime minister of sitting at home drinking beer," right-wing
Reform Party representative Deborah Grey said in parliament.
The new Liberal government has been hard pressed to reconcile its
campaign pledges to reduce unemployment and Canada's strapping public debt at
the same time.
Most of the debt has been run up by a generous social welfare system
built up over 50 years and economists say the government has no choice but to
chop services.
The Liberals are looking for ways to encourage people to get off the dole
and onto training and job-sharing schemes.
``In my judgment, it's better to have them at 50 percent of productivity
than to be sitting home drinking beer at zero percent of productivity,"
Chretien said Wednesday at an annual press dinner in Toronto. Chretien
said Canada had to ``break the mentality" of people who work for short stints
only to claim unemployment insurance.
Canada's rate of unemployment fell from 11.1 to 10.6 last month, but it
is still one of the highest among leading industrial nations.
REUTER

Transmitted: 94-04-21 17:44:00 EDT