Dear Editor,
You have shown a huge misunderstanding of the power of Kijiji [Harper’s policy just a plain joke, April 1 Odd Thoughts, Langley Advance]. While not well used in British Columbia, it dominates the market throughout Canada.
Craigslist is a non-starter east of BC.
The usefulness of Kijiji for Statistics Canada as a tracking device for employment cannot be disputed. The daily number of job seekers and job offers is, for the most part, a good indicator of the employment health of the country.
Kijiji listers may not be looking for newspaper editors, but the jobs offered are, for the most part, starter and/or labour-type work, work that can pay the bills while seeking a more fulfilling position. I am not too sure that tracking jobs offered and jobs sought can be regarded as a policy. Any information is good information.
As to your knock about scientific information being disregarded by the current government, I concur. When does anyone in the ivory tower know anything about the man in the street?
Your apparent reliance on economists for valued information leaves me questioning economists’ grasp of the economy in the past 10 years. Where were they during the meltdown that still affects a major portion of the world?
I believe a large component of the training to become an economist is to bury your head in the sand until the storm is over, then appear with solutions, valueless for the most part.
Terry Brenan, Aldergrove