Evidence of meeting #21 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was learning.
Conservative
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
Thank you.
I'm going to carry on with the whole issue of foreign credentials and the recognition of those foreign credentials. Certainly I do want to express my personal feelings on this. I feel that not only are you basically being let down, as obviously you were accepted into this country based on the fact that you had the credentials to be a pharmacist, but I also believe that we as Canadians are unfortunately not benefiting from the system. Certainly we have a system that's harming not only you but harming society in general. It's probably one of the most important issues we can deal with, and should do so in a timely manner.
I think you've probably explained the system, but is there any other way we could better facilitate the process? I don't know if there's something that should be tied to your immigration process. If we've accepted you to become a pharmacist in our country, should there be a requirement for the government to facilitate the process for you to utilize your skills in the country?
As an Individual
In my case, as I mentioned earlier, there are no special courses offered in Nova Scotia, as in other provinces. This was one of my proposals, that refresher courses would be offered to newly arrived immigrants, in order for them to prepare for the required examinations. This is the main proposal I am suggesting to the committee.
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
So you wouldn't have been opposed to being required to go directly to a refresher course, wherever that may have been, for a length of time until your credentials were accepted here, if that was the basis for your acceptance into the country as an immigrant?
As an Individual
It is one of the factors required in becoming an immigrant to Canada. That's just one, but there are other factors.
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
Would it have been beneficial if you had been able to begin the process of going through the equivalency before you came to Canada? Was there any way for you to start the process by correspondence or some other means, so that you would have better understood what was required in Canada, and everyone would have been aware of your skills? Did you feel there was enough information when you came to Canada about what was required of you?
As an Individual
I was aware they required an equivalency exam, but I was not expecting it to be that difficult.
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
You were unaware that it was different from the requirements for people here to become pharmacists.
As an Individual
If you are a Canadian, you are only required to take the pharmacy board exam. You are not required to pass the equivalency exam. It's just foreign pharmacy graduates who are required to take the equivalency.
Executive Director, National Adult Literacy Database Inc.
I'd like to say that this is a problem of long standing, and in spite of some changing rhetoric, the results don't seem to have changed. Maybe it's time for someone to ask why. I think there's a suspicion in the general public that some of the professional associations are a little reluctant to let this happen easier than it does, and maybe they need to be challenged on this.
Member, Advisory Council, Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Maybe there could be some kind of apprenticeship program.
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
I think that's an issue the committee should be looking at. It might be the direction it needs to go in. It's a well-regarded opinion in the general population, and I've heard it before. So you're not bringing us anything the general population doesn't agree with, and I've heard it many times.
Mr. Ramsey, I wanted to talk a bit about your statement that literacy is a moving target. There are a lot of people who don't even have the basic ability to read, write, and do arithmetic. There are two different types of literacy that we're discussing. First, there are the things that people should be able to acquire by the time they've finished grade 12. Second, there's literacy that goes beyond that to specialized work situations. I think that's what you're addressing. But where is the overlap? What are we missing out on? Obviously, we're missing out on both fronts. The fundamental issue that has to be addressed, even before we can address workplace literacy, is the standard of actual literacy that should be acquired by the time a person graduates from high school.
How do we ensure that every person in the country at least has basic literacy? Next, how do we build on that? Finally, how do we build a policy to ensure that there's on-the-ground training for both?
Workplace Educator, Association of Workplace Educators of Nova Scotia (AWENS)
I think we need some standards. There's too much difference between schools in provinces. My kids went to school in five different provinces. Every time they'd change schools the curriculum was different. Fortunately, they all came out literate, but that may have been their mother more than their schooling.
I think this is the big issue. I'm not saying that all education in Canada has to be the same. It shouldn't, and there's no way it could be, but there has to be a way to demonstrate that people who have finished twelve years of school have a certain level of competency. We need to figure it out.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
I want to thank everybody for being here today.
I realize that we could spend hours and days on this, but we are moving along. I can assure you that some of the themes we're hearing are not new. We have heard them from other witnesses.
We're going to adjourn the meeting.
