Thank you.
My apologies for being late; I had a flat tire along the way, and I got a little more exercise this morning than expected.
Canada's rank in the competitive global economy has been slipping over time. According to the World Economic Forum, Canada ranked 16th in 2006 on the global competitive index, down from 13th in 2005. The World Economic Forum, hardly known as a left-leaning group, has argued that heavy investment in education, infrastructure, and a broad range of social services is responsible for the strong international economic performance of the Nordic countries. Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are always near the top of the index, exchanging who is leader.
Canada's level of economic competitiveness depends on its investment in developing human capital through education, training, and skills development. The recent federal announcement of cuts, worth approximately $1 billion to many programs and services that support the formation of social and human capital, are, we feel, a step in the wrong direction. The cuts run counter to Canada's economic goals--and social goals, I might add. Our submission is that these cuts should be restored in the next budget.
A highly literate population is a necessity for a sound and growing economy. The adult literacy and life skills survey found a significant wage return for high skill levels. Another study found that upgrading the skills of Canada's least-educated workforce would lead to increases in the GDP and labour productivity. The study also found that increasing skills among those at the lowest level in the distribution would have more positive impacts than increasing skills at the higher levels.
Therefore, the $17.7 million in cuts to literacy programs should be restored. Our argument is not necessarily that they be restored to exactly the same programs, but if there are problems in particular programs, that is no rationale for removing the funding.
The opportunity for working-age adults to gain and develop new skills, including literacy and numeracy, is essential in today's labour market. According to Scott, OECD findings confirm that countries that have invested more heavily in education and worker training have achieved higher rates of job creation and economic growth.
One can anticipate that the combined loss of $73 million for training, upgrading, and employment and work opportunities for youth, aboriginal youth, unskilled, and low-skilled workers will have a strong negative impact on Canada's ability to meet demands for skilled labour and to compete in a global marketplace.
The voluntary and non-profit sector is a key part of Canada's social and human capital architecture, and a major ingredient of economic competitiveness. The economic contribution of the non-profit sector is larger than many major industries in Canada. It amounted to 6.8% of gross domestic product in 1999.
The sector is obviously very reliant on volunteers. The announced cuts to the Canadian Volunteerism Initiative and the Canadian Policy Research Network, which does major research to support the sector, will greatly impact on the capacity of the sector as a whole to contribute to Canada's economic performance.
Canada ranks high internationally in terms of health status and health care, but I don't have to tell anyone that there are great inequities among the Canadian population. Ensuring the health of aboriginal people through such preventive strategies as the first nations and Inuit tobacco control strategy offers long-term benefits by reducing the demand for costly acute health care and by increasing the capacity of aboriginal people to join the labour force and fill labour shortages.
There are many barriers in the labour market to the entry of particular groups whose labour is going to be more and more needed. These include women, lone parents, aboriginal people, new Canadians, and Canadians with disabilities.
The Court Challenges Program of Canada, the Law Commission of Canada, and Status of Women Canada—