Thanks very much.
Just by way of picking up on what Peggy's been talking about in regard to our concern as a council going forward, certainly a year ago we were talking about what the stimulus package should look like as we slipped into recession. Going into recession, we were already raising flags about what was really a polarized labour market and saying that in Canada there are groups of workers who are very well employed and who enjoyed the success of the previous 10 years--and it was a good 10 years--but there is a large and growing group of people who are confined to the low-wage labour market, certainly those on income assistance programs.
Looking forward, we've certainly seen that the numbers have swelled through this recession. We can speak more specifically about what the impact has been vis-à-vis some of the programs. We know that we have growing numbers of people in the low-wage labour market and that some of the programs certainly have failed to support them, but going forward, what are we looking at?
I think some of the early evidence suggests that many people who are losing their jobs in construction or in the manufacturing sector here in Ontario, and certainly in the forestry industry in Quebec and British Columbia and the like, will not be finding employment afterwards that actually will compensate them at those levels. We are really seeing and living through the erosion of that and through a fundamental shift in the labour market structure in the country.
Looking forward, even if people do begin to pick up jobs--I think we're out on where we are in the cycle of the recession, but it's not worth debating--I think we can certainly say that many more people will be picking up jobs that pay less than they're used to and their access to benefits will be more circumscribed. There is a real and present danger that we're seeing a solidification of the divides in the labour market and that the haves and the have-nots will be present with us for a long time.
Looking at that, and being conscious of the fact, certainly, that we've also come through a year in which an enormous amount of public money has been pumped in through stimulus financing, I know that this committee is grappling with what the package should look like going forward. Certainly, cost containment, I think, is pretty top of mind for everybody right now. We're thinking about what we've already spent and we're looking at a budget in the neighbourhood of $60 billion. What should we look at going forward?
I would argue that it's important as we undertake this exercise to keep in mind that there are certain groups of vulnerable Canadians, as I said, who should have first call on the nation's resources and supports. With that in mind, our brief highlighted three areas that I think demand consideration.
There has already been a recommendation to look at the national pension system. I understand the government is looking at holding a summit on seniors. This is a critical area. I think we need to look at pension reforms specifically in order to ensure economic security. Some positive steps have been taken, but many more things need to be done. We can speak about follow-through.
As for the whole situation around training and access to programs, again, this government in the last number of years, and certainly the Liberal government before it, flowed money through the granting councils and to post-secondary, and there's a whole structure of moneys going to the provinces through the EI fund. Again, there's that group of people outside this who do not have access to EI programs that I think we have to be careful about. We recommend moneys being devoted to people who do not have access to training programs through the EI fund. Again, building on that going forward is a look at the structure of the labour market.
Lastly, the other particular recommendation that we've put forward is, again, to come back to the importance of early childhood education as one of those things that will position Canada in regard to moving forward.
I'll leave it there. I recognize that my time is up.