Imagine. Imagine a Canada where everyone reads. Imagine a Canada where everyone writes. Imagine a Canada where all children have people who read to them every day. Imagine a Canada where language is plain. Imagine a Canada where the workplace is safe. Imagine a Canada where workers have the skills they need to do the job. Imagine a Canada where we can compete in a global economy. Imagine a Canada where a learning culture is fostered and celebrated. This is our dream for Canada. This committee has the power to help us achieve this dream.
My name is Elaine Cairns and I am president of Literacy Alberta. I represent the thousands of Canadians who volunteer in the literacy field and I am here with my colleague Ian Kennedy, who is vice-president of our organization.
Literacy Alberta is the Alberta branch of a national network of coalitions. The work accomplished by us in the province supports the work of literacy here and across the nation. The regional program funding from the National Literacy Secretariat enabled us, among other things, to improve and support literacy programs and services; to refer learners and their families to literacy programs in their communities; to provide resources for and develop capacity within the sector; and to provide professional development for literacy learners, volunteer tutors, and literacy practitioners across this province.
Over the last 18 months, we have spent some of our time developing a provincial literacy strategy: Literacy--For a Life of Learning. We don't have the time here today to go through it, so we have attached it to the speaker's notes you have been given.
As you know, the federal government has made devastating cuts to literacy. We speak for low-literate learners when we speak out in protest against these cuts. For Literacy Alberta, the cut translates to approximately half a million dollars, or half our budget. Without this funding, our ability to provide these services and supports to literacy learners and practitioners is severely compromised. The infrastructure of literacy supports across the country over the last 20 years will be decimated. Momentum will be lost and literacy leaders will be gone.
We find this federal government decision to be short-sighted and flawed. We say that teaching adults to read and write, and to read and write well enough to function fully in today's knowledge-based society, is an investment in the Canadian economy and in our society. And it's a federal responsibility as well as a provincial responsibility. It is, in fact, everyone's responsibility. Now is the time for all sectors--business, voluntary, government, and individuals--to be collaborating to improve the literacy skills of all Canadians. We say literacy is a basic skill through which we make sense of our world and adapt to new circumstances. Being literate helps us to learn, change, and adapt. We must invest in every Canadian's literacy skills, and over 40% of us do not have the skills we need today.
Literacy skills determine how a country competes, especially in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy. A key finding in the recent International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey concluded that countries with higher average literacy scores do better economically over the long term. A lack of such skills undermines a person's confidence and a sense of self-worth. It limits their productivity and ability to reach their full potential. A lack of literacy skills can lead to accidents on the job, an inability to adapt in a job, to use technology efficiently, and to be as productive a worker as possible. The IALSS found that of unemployed Canadians, 53% don't have the minimum literacy skills required to function in everyday life. Lower-skilled adults tend to work fewer weeks, experience more and longer periods of unemployment, and earn lower wages when they're working, said the joint survey conducted by StatsCan, the OECD, and other partners.
In Alberta, 67% of our level one literate people are in the workforce, almost 170,000 people, and that is a statistic from three years ago. To assist these workers to improve their skills, we will need to first improve their literacy skills and then improve their workplace essential skills. Both literacy and workplace essential skills programming were cut in the recent round of expenditure restraints.
Statistics Canada describes the direct link to productivity. A 1% increase in literacy rate would increase productivity by 2.5% and gross domestic product by 1.5%. This rising gross domestic product translates into $18 billion for Canada every year. That $18 billion, or even the tax collected on $18 billion, would make a great payment on the debt. As well, as literacy skills go up, so does the person's health, well-being, and social engagement. If there is a better investment for Canadians to be making right now, we cannot think of one. Can you?
We say that far from cutting investment in literacy, the federal government should be increasing it. We should be encouraging learning in the workplace and in the community. We should be working with workers at all levels to increase their skills, thus increasing our productivity as a nation. As we continue to ignore the fact that increased literacy rates lead to economic growth, and have been proven to do so around the world, as a nation we will continue to fall behind in our ability to lead, innovate, adapt, and change.
We want Canada to be a leader in the global economy. To do this, we must invest more resources, not fewer, into the abilities and productivity of Canadians. It is time for a pan-Canadian literacy strategy that encompasses the broader perspective of literacy. We need to be inclusive of family literacy, adult basic education, workplace literacy, and essential skills training. We need to be inclusive of all groups--francophone, first nations, mainstream, and English as a second language. We ask for your support. Together, we can create a fully literate Canada.
Thank you.