Human Resources committee  I have a brief comment. We have to have a little greater vision. I don't know a lot about these programs, but these temporary ones are temporary fixes that last twelve or eighteen months and can do a real disservice to people on a limited income. They get to where they are com

Human Resources committee  We are familiar with it. As far as something that's Down-syndrome-specific is concerned, there's nothing like that in Alberta. Certainly they do good work there. Our concern, I guess, is that even though they're in the communities, we're still tending to see that kind of workshop

Human Resources committee  Yes, but I guess they're still clumped together. They're not—

Human Resources committee  Right. The one-on-one support, as Colleen was saying, is critical to that employment.

Human Resources committee  From our viewpoint, it's critical to include advocates in the actual process of defining that disability act. “Where the rubber meets the road” is really our perspective. That decision should be based on the needs and voices of the people who are affected by the legislation, the

Human Resources committee  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

Human Resources committee  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

Human Resources committee  Thank you. I am going to actually turn it over to Mr. Dale Froese. He is going to speak on behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society.