Evidence of meeting #30 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was youth.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Jennifer Flanagan  Chief Executive Officer, Actua
Monique Moreau  Director of National Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
Courtney Hare  Manager of Public Policy, Momentum
Danielle Levine  Executive Director, Aboriginal Social Enterprise Program, As an Individual

9:55 a.m.

Executive Director, Aboriginal Social Enterprise Program, As an Individual

Danielle Levine

I know there are more official definitions floating around, but to me, economic reconciliation comes when communities are on par with the rest of Canada. Having an unemployment rate that is almost the same as the rest of Canada is economic reconciliation.

9:55 a.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC

I guess I'm asking how we get there.

9:55 a.m.

Executive Director, Aboriginal Social Enterprise Program, As an Individual

Danielle Levine

An evolving best practice that I see is we need people to actually go to the communities. How many people have actually been to the communities with 95% unemployment? How is the work going with their local municipality? Are they involved in economic development planning with their local municipality?

The other thing that is high on my radar is bringing entrepreneurs into the communities. These could be people from China or Germany, or they could be local entrepreneurs from here in British Columbia. We need to get them to bring their business acumen into the communities. It might not be a local resource development opportunity but something in digital literacy. It might be a franchise opportunity. What we need is to shift the culture towards innovation to see what people can do with the resources and assets available locally.

9:55 a.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC

You mentioned before about there not being adequate opportunity or industry not necessarily working with local communities. I have a couple of great examples.

The Saulteau from Moberly in northern B.C. are working on the Site C Bennett dam right now as security and safety personnel. A big company has been developed.

We also have the port up in Stewart, where the owner has directly contacted the chief. They have worked out an agreement themselves. A lot of local aboriginal people have jobs and opportunity as a result.

I guess what I see as the key to the opportunity is a job. It's simply having the opportunity to go to work and then building from that. It might not be where you finish. I started off as a labourer working on pipelines out in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, you get a different job and move a little bit further along the line, and away you go.

One of the other witnesses mentioned skills training at a younger age, especially for aboriginal kids who are close to the poverty line. That's what I see as key: getting some training earlier which is specific to what your life job is going to be, or close to it.

Do you have any last comments, Danielle?

10 a.m.

Executive Director, Aboriginal Social Enterprise Program, As an Individual

Danielle Levine

I would just point out that the context in British Columbia is very different from what we see across Canada. Generally in British Columbia, because of the lack of treaties in some areas, I think industry is more attuned to the opportunities for and the necessity of working with aboriginal communities, but that's not necessarily so across Canada. There are many communities that, because of their geographical locations, don't have industry involvement in their communities.

10 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bryan May

Now we'll go to MP Sangha, please.

10 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

My question is for Jennifer Flanagan.

I was listening to you when you told us that skills development for the students should start from the basic level, the primary level. This will ensure that young people who are struggling to seek employment or to manage their finances can explore financial literacy education.

Was it you who suggested, regarding your STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math, experience, that school curriculum should include these subjects at the start level?

10 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

Do you mean included in the formal curriculum?

10 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

At the schooling level.

10 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

Yes. They are currently. There are, obviously, science and math curricula being included.

What we would like to see, obviously, are opportunities for experiential learning. There's gobs and gobs of research on this, and everyone has a personal experience about it. If you can apply what you're learning in school to something that you care about, you will be more likely to want to learn more, to stay engaged, and to be motivated. That's also developing really important skills at the same time.

We hear a lot that even youth who are coming out of university don't have applicable skills. They don't know how to apply what they've learned. We hear that from youth all the time. They're learning things in school—if they're staying in school—but they don't have the opportunity to apply them. They don't have the opportunity to act on the ideas they have.

As an example, in indigenous communities these youth, at a very young age, have incredible ideas of how to improve their communities, incredible ideas. We need to give them opportunities to start acting and building their skills to actually do that. They can create their own opportunities.

10 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Do you think that if they are being provided this education in science, technology, engineering, and math at a basic level, they will have more opportunities for jobs?

10 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

Yes, absolutely. We know these are fields where jobs are very plentiful, where they're high paying, and where they are sustained right across the country. They're good, solid jobs, and we need a more robust but also more diverse workforce in these fields.

10 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Would you suggest to the committee, even at the primary level, some other types of job skills, such as drywalling, bricklaying, or other small jobs, where students can get into that business and be self-employed after schooling? Do you have any suggestions regarding that?

10 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

To have experiences where they're developing very specific skills?

10 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Yes.

10 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

I think that's a good idea at an older age. You have to look at where they are. At a young age it's really just exposure. It's actually talking about what a skill is and what a competency is. Most people don't even understand what those terms are. Talking to kids about that is an important first step.

Give them the chance. They might not necessarily become a plumber, but we want them to get those tools in their hands and to have the experience of what that feels like, and not just having it talked about.

Yes, I think it's an excellent strategy for them to have experiences where they can get their hands on and play with the science or the technology. It doesn't mean they're all going to go to university. We're a big promoter of trades as well.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

If somebody wants to be a taxi driver or a truck driver, they simply go to a training school and get into the truck or the taxi, but there are many other jobs they can get into, such as HVAC, cooling systems, air conditioning, or other building materials, and some other things in construction work. Our local people, local students, are not employed in these. Do you suggest that type of training should be given to them?

10:05 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

I think they need exposure to what opportunities exist, especially if they want to stay in their local communities, to what is available to them, and to what kinds of skills are needed to get into those areas of employment.

Even though we're mostly university based in our membership, we often have the conversation with parents saying that university isn't the only road. We hear parents say all the time that their kid is not going to college, even as first-generation university goers. That is something we are constantly working to change the tune on to say there are excellent employment opportunities in industries that really have gaps.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Your website suggests that 48% of Canadians would struggle with financial obligations if their paycheques were delayed for a week or two weeks because everybody is involved in very tight situations. That's what you might want to explain here.

10:05 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

That's not my website.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bryan May

Very briefly.

10:05 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

We don't talk about financial literacy—

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

We talk about these vulnerable people, those who are immigrants, people with disabilities, indigenous persons, or other youth who want to gain access to employment. Could you suggest to the committee, regarding their financial and technological training, a quick, effective way they could be put into jobs?

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bryan May

Reply very quickly, please.

10:05 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Actua

Jennifer Flanagan

Sorry, but that's not my area of expertise. We're not doing that.