Human Resources Committee on Nov. 9th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you both for that presentation.

We're going to move to Ms. Johnston and Ms. Willocks.

[Ramona Johnston, Director, Vibrant Communities Calgary]

Thank you.

Good morning. Vibrant Communities Calgary brings together individuals concerned about poverty and its effects, and it works at the policy level to develop and implement long-term strategies to address the root causes of poverty in our communities. Partners include Calgarians living on low incomes and representatives from government, business, labour, base communities, non-profit organizations, health and education, and the community at large. We are part of a national network of 16 vibrant communities across Canada, and we thank you for the opportunity to make this presentation on employability issues.

We believe that when people live in persistent financial distress, the whole community pays through increased cost to the health care, education, social service, and criminal justice systems, and to our local economy, in lower spending on goods and services. Reducing poverty in Calgary will improve the quality of life for all of us and make our city an even more attractive location for investment.

Calgary's economy is thriving, but we know that a rising tide does not lift all boats. Many individuals and families are actually falling further behind as a result of the increased cost of living and lack of affordable housing. In 2004, over 13%, or 127,000 Calgarians, lived below Statistics Canada's low-income cut-off. What's more, almost 90% of these low-income Calgarians do not receive any provincial or federal income support benefits. In the first six months of this year, despite a booming economy, over 67,000 employed Calgarians were still earning less than $10 an hour, an amount that would not even allow an individual without dependants, working full-time, to meet the low-income cut-off line. That's almost 14% of employed Calgarians still earning poverty-level wages.

In light of the persistent problem of poverty in Calgary, we will highlight just a few of the recommendations from our written submission made in September.

Across Canada, real minimum wages have been shrinking for decades, with many low-wage workers no longer able to support themselves or their families. We fully support the principle underlying the recent Arthurs' report on federal labour standards that no worker should receive a wage that is insufficient to live on. We further support the submissions provided to the inquiry that the federal minimum wage should be set to a living wage level, starting at $10 an hour and indexed to inflation. This would allow workers and their families to meet basic needs, maintain a safe and decent standard of living in their communities, and save for future needs and goals.

The federal government can also demonstrate leadership to assist vulnerable workers through increased education and more active enforcement of employment standards through the Canada Labour Code. For example, the federal Arthurs' report found that more than one in ten employers covered by the code failed to provide three weeks of vacation to employees with ten years of service, even though they are entitled after six years. More than half have given time off in compensation for overtime rather than premium pay, as the law requires.

In Calgary, approximately 50% of our visible homeless population has full-time employment. Vibrant Communities Calgary would like to see all three levels of government, business, social agencies, and the community work together to create, implement, and measure progress on a coordinated long-term plan to address homelessness and affordable housing.

We also recommend comprehensive reforms to employment insurance to address the significant decline in coverage of the unemployed and the related decline in access to employment supports and training. Previous changes to the EI program have disproportionately impacted part-time and other non-standard workers, typically women, youth, visible minorities, immigrants, and low-income workers. Reforms should include a decrease in the number of hours required to qualify, the reintroduction of eligibility for workers who quit voluntarily or are dismissed with cause, and a process for the growing self-employed workers to contribute to and be eligible for EI benefits.

Recent cutbacks in federal funding, such as the Western Diversification Fund, have negatively impacted many community initiatives that were making sustainable inroads in the fight against poverty. The social economy and community economic development need to be reinstated as a federal priority.

I will now invite my colleague to highlight some of our recommendations on the employability of new immigrants.

[Lori Willocks, Settlement Coordinator, Calgary Immigrant Aid Society , Vibrant Communities Calgary]

Good morning. My name is Lori Willocks. I work as a settlement coordinator at the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society.

Immigrants play an increasingly important role in Canada's growth and economy, but many newcomers are forced into jobs that are far below their training and qualifications. This is making Canada a less attractive destination of choice for new immigrants.

In fact, a recent StatsCan report shows that one in six highly educated male immigrants leaves Canada within one year of arrival due to the job market. Because of this, we have a few recommendations.

We recommend providing potential immigrants with clear and accurate information about working in Canada prior to their immigration.

We recommend increasing the funding for language programs that offer occupation-specific language training, employment preparation, and paid work placement.

We recommend providing child care support and more flexible hours for ESL students to improve accessibility.

We also recommend offering incentives to employers who will provide work placements or internships to immigrants to help them gain Canadian work experience.

Vibrant Communities Calgary believes that the Government of Canada has a strong role to play in the elimination of poverty in our community. Federal and provincial programs are intertwined, and solutions to these issues cannot be found unless both levels of government work together and address the barriers as well as the opportunities.

Further, government programs need to be reviewed and designed in light of current social and economic conditions. In an economy such as Calgary's, job transitions are not only possible but essential for efficiency gains.

Good social program design strongly reinforces good economic performance.

If government programs prevent these efficiency gains, individual workers suffer and it is detrimental to the economy as a whole.

We hope you will act quickly on these recommendations, as the situation of low-income Calgarians is becoming increasingly serious and has far-reaching consequences for our entire community.

I thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much, ladies, for your presentations.

We're now going to start our first round of seven minutes. Mr. Regan, you start us off.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to begin by thanking all of you for coming in and speaking to us this morning. The information you are giving us first-hand is obviously very valuable to the work we're trying to do.

A number of you talked about the need for incentives or subsidies to help people gain workforce experience. I wonder if you'd like to describe, first of all, what you think the Government of Canada's role should be in that and why it should be the Government of Canada as opposed to the Province of Alberta, for example, and how they ought to work to be effective.

Who would like to start?

[Lori Willocks]

There are a number of programs out there at the moment. For example, where I work there is the youth internship program, and we are working primarily with new immigrants.

It is offering an incentive in terms of subsidizing some of the salary. A lot of times employers will not automatically hire immigrants. This is a way to top up wages and give the employers the incentive to hire immigrants.

We're finding many of these employers are keeping these people on after their internship is finished. So it's a way to try to bring in the business community to hiring people they may not have hired in the past.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

There's a youth employment strategy. Where does the funding come from for that?

[Lori Willocks]

From the federal government.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Would you care to comment?

[Denise Young]

Sure. The program in Ireland I referred to was a program whereby an individual would go for a job in a competitive environment, and then somebody would come and assess the level they were performing at. So if they were performing at, let's say, 40% of an average worker in that environment, the employer would be required to pay 40% of the wages and the other 60% would be topped up. Then they would repeatedly reassess, and if they were performing at 75%, then the government would cover 25% of the wages and the employer would cover 75%.

We don't understand a lot about who's doing which program in government. We're looking at it from the perspective of the individual. We would love to encourage all levels of government to work together to figure out how people can live decent lives.

[Colleen Huston]

I was an employment worker for about eight years, and the first thing employers ask in Alberta is if they can pay a person less than the minimum wage. That's just a reality. I don't think the Alberta labour standards or regulations are strong enough. The labour standards vary from province to province.

We need national support to encourage employment, because a lot of people would like to have something to do with their day. Volunteer work is an option for some people. Some people can't work and choose not to work, but for those people who want to contribute to society, we need the strength of the national government to support those efforts.

[Dale Froese]

I totally agree with Colleen.

Thank you.

[Kirk Crowther]

I think of some of the research that Dale and I have done.

There are still three provinces in Canada that have minimum wage exemptions. It would be nice if the federal government could legislate something, where provinces would not be allowed to discriminate against people. One thing Dale pointed out when we started this process is that it really devalues people to actually have to have a permit to work. It's not a hunting licence. It's a permit to contribute to Canada. You have to have that if your employer is offering those minimum wage exemptions.

We were really disappointed to find that there were still some problems.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I don't think the Government of Canada can tell a provincial government what its labour standards or minimum wage laws have to be. Clearly, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies, but remember, it was eventually agreed to by not just the one government, but all governments, except for Quebec, unfortunately. It's a multilevel thing. That's a challenge.

I'd like to ask a question. I'm not sure which one of you mentioned the social economy initiatives and the cuts to that program, but for those who saw a benefit from that program, I'd like to hear how it worked for you. Explain to me, if you would, what the positive impact of that program was in your community.

[Ramona Johnston]

Mr. Chair, I'll start.

I'm very familiar with two programs in Calgary--although I know there were many more--that were negatively affected as a result of the recent cutbacks.

One is the women and a fair income project. It was a photo-voice project. Women living on low income in Calgary went through quite an amazing process, where they took photos of objects and people in their lives and told stories about those photos. It has been an incredibly powerful initiative over the last few years. A group of about twelve women have now created this photo-voice display. They go to community events. They have now actually travelled throughout Alberta and other communities across Canada to show this photo-voice display.

It's been very empowering for those individuals who were involved in the project. Actually, the photo-voice display was displayed last night at a poverty forum. People read the captions and look at these pictures. It really puts a face on poverty, which is important in our community, because poverty does tend to be so invisible.

That has been an incredible initiative, but they are struggling to continue because their funding was cut recently.

Another initiative—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I will just interrupt for one second. Tell me what that has done for those twelve women.

[Ramona Johnston]

Well, I hesitate to speak on their behalf—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I understand.

[Ramona Johnston]

—but I know a few of them personally who have gone on to participate in other community initiatives. They feel more empowered. They feel that they now have a voice. A couple of them are actually involved in some of the initiatives we are working on around low wages and affordable transportation. They've taken what they learned and experienced through that photo-voice display project to do other things and be more active in their community.

The other initiative I am familiar with is run by a community economic development organization here in Calgary. It's called Momentum, which was formerly MCC Employment Development. That initiative is called the social purchasing portal. There is actually a series of them across Canada. It originated in Vancouver. We started about a year and a half ago with the social purchasing portal here in Calgary.

The idea behind it is to connect large purchasers of goods and services with smaller suppliers of those goods and services. So it's connecting these small suppliers--organizations or businesses that wouldn't normally have the access to a larger market. They have agreed they will be progressive in their workplace practices. These small suppliers have committed to paying a living wage to all their employees, starting at $10 an hour. They are also looking at other progressive employment practices such as benefits and assisting with child care and transportation. Of course, the larger purchasers feel this is a way for them to be socially responsible, to purchase their goods and services from these progressively responsible smaller suppliers.

It's been an amazing initiative. It's still in its infancy in Calgary. They are just gathering suppliers and purchasers. It actually has an Internet component--hence the portal piece--so people can connect online.

Unfortunately, it was funded through the Western Diversification Fund. That federal funding has now been completely cut. Other funders in the community are trying to pick up those pieces to make sure the program can continue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Ms. Johnston.

Mr. Lessard will be asking his questions in French. I encourage you to put on your headsets if you need some help with translation.

Monsieur Lessard, sept minutes, s'il vous plaît.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would also like to thank you for being here this morning. This committee is travelling right now to be able to meet people like you. Those who can afford it can always be heard in Ottawa. So, it is a privilege for us to welcome you here, and I want to thank you, especially because the content of your remarks will be very useful, I am sure.

We have before us three organizations that are more particularly concerned with disabled people's issues. My first question will be on Mr. Froese's presentation. Later on, I would like to deal with access to employment and job retention for disabled workers.

You just said that your committee has twelve members throughout Canada. Could you explain a bit more what you mean by that? I am trying to seen how representative this committee is. Do you mean twelve member organizations?

[Dale Froese]

There are twelve members. We're the voices at the table for advocacy. I am actually one of them. I'm from Kelowna, B.C. They travel across Canada too.

Thank you.

[Kirk Crowther]

The committee looks at speaking on employment issues on behalf of individuals with disabilities. This committee of twelve is basically the voice of adults with Down syndrome in Canada. They respond back to our board with information on areas of concern. Employment is one of three key areas that these twelve adults from across Canada have identified as a problem area. So they're basically researching. They're looking for opportunities in their own community to present, to speak at panels like this about employment issues and outcomes, certainly, for people with disabilities.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Thank you for the clarification.

Each one of you talked about what a job means for people as human beings and about how they are perceived in their work environment. Somebody mentioned the feeling of shame when one does not have a job. And when one has a job, it is difficult to become part of the work environment and to develop a human dimension in the workplace.

This depends a lot on the capacity of the employer to welcome the employee in his or her organization. The employer needs a bit of preparation for this, and you talked a little bit about that. I stand to be corrected, but this is a bit of a challenge because it means the employer needs what I will call a positive action policy. It means they have to have a number of jobs for people with a handicap and functions that are appropriate for them. Most workplaces are organized, they have a union, job structures, job classifications, and so on. The employer has to check in various jobs the functions that can be given to disabled workers.

I am telling you this because it is the way I see this situation, and the opportunity to better include handicapped workers in the workplace and have them take part in this inclusion.

Do you see things the same way?

[Colleen Huston]

Well, many organizations have intelligence quotient cut-offs. A lot of people who are employable don't qualify for provincial service programs. Those who do qualify don't have enough employment supports. It's been proven that when a person has a support worker on the job, after they've secured the job for long-term employment, people can hold jobs for ten years. We find that is the key to people keeping their jobs, having that employment support.

Sadly, there was a great program that was funded federally to help people whose intelligence was too high but still had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and they've been affected; they've been cut. And they cannot keep those jobs beyond six months.

We think a support worker helps. People who cannot be taught those social normalcies have to be taught how to survive in such an inhuman environment.