Evidence of meeting #14 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was training.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Denise Amyot  President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of Canadian Community Colleges
Jim Burpee  President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Electricity Association
Joe Heil  Director, First Nations and Métis Relations, Ontario Power Generation Inc., Canadian Electricity Association
Anna Toneguzzo  Manager, Government Relations and Policy Research, Public Policy and Canadian Partnerships, Association of Canadian Community Colleges
Elisabeth Cayen  Executive Director, Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium
Kent Paterson  President and Chief Executive Officer, YMCA-YWCA - Winnipeg
Joan Harris  Program Manager, First Peoples Development Inc.

10:40 a.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, YMCA-YWCA - Winnipeg

Kent Paterson

We have a program, separate and apart from the program I described, that is geared towards adults who want to start their own businesses. It's a self-employment program. Individuals who have been in receipt of employment insurance can elect to enter this program. We provide a wide range of counselling to assist people in developing their own business plans. We give them financial training. We give them training in sales and marketing and in legal aspects of operating a business. People go on to start their own businesses, and we provide them with supports as they get going. It's a program we've been offering for some years. We're looking to expand what we do in that regard.

One of our more recent endeavours has been to focus on the newcomer community in Manitoba. I can't say that we have specifically looked at enterprise creation opportunities for aboriginal persons, but certainly the program as a whole has been growing in the last number of years.

10:40 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman

Thank you very much.

That ends the five minutes. It goes very quickly, I know.

This brings us to the end of the second panel actually. First of all, I would like to thank the witnesses for contributing to what I believe was a very fruitful day of testimony. I have just a couple of parting observations.

Ms. Cayen, you used the word “humongous”. I haven't heard that in a long time in my raising of four children. You mentioned 25 is the age at which you cut the apron strings. I can confirm that is true in southern Ontario as well.

Ms. Harris, we wish you the best of luck when you roll up the rim.

The meeting is adjourned.