Thank you very much.
My name is Margo Legault. I am the executive director of Literacy Quebec, and we're the network for English literacy organizations within the province.
Our mission really is to connect and represent community-based literacy organizations. Literacy Quebec and 12 of its member organizations are recognized by the minister of education, and we receive core funding for our programs. It is thanks to this financial support that our network was able to survive the cuts to the federal funding, which Linda explained, but this isn't to say that those effects haven't been felt in our network.
For example, in 2006 the federal-provincial agreements that gave access to IFPCA funding were terminated. Community literacy organizations lost access to a valuable source of funding that allowed for the development of capacity-building projects.
Literacy Quebec has been trying to respond to this gap in support by raising awareness of literacy issues in the province and helping with the recruitment of adults with low literacy levels, assisting in the development of resources and materials, offering professional development opportunities for literacy practitioners, and providing instances of concertation.
That being said, we are working in the context of minority language within the province, and it is not always an easy task. Also, we work with very vulnerable populations where the positive impact that is felt by the people we reach cannot always be measured by graduation levels and employment placement. It can be difficult to quantify the profound effect we can have on an individual's situation. I'm talking about breaking their isolation; empowerment; self-esteem; and the ability to manage one's health, balance a budget, navigate one's surroundings, and even vote.
For literacy organizations working within the context of minority language in Quebec, there are specific challenges that we face. We are responsible for very vast territories. Our 13 member organizations are supposed to cover the entire province, so the province is divided into regions that we cover. Obviously they're not able to provide services throughout the entire region, but have to prioritize and target their interventions.
Also, the funding we receive does not meet our needs, so most of our organizations are working with an average of 1.5 staff members. They also have to restrict the number of hours they're open throughout the week.
Our members create and foster a sense of community among English speakers. They recruit and train volunteers to become literacy tutors, and this not only offers volunteers a valuable opportunity, but it allows them to contribute to the vitality of their community. It also offers a warm, welcoming, and non-judgmental environment for adult learners. They're able to cater the learning to the specific individualized goals and objectives of the individual.
It's important to note also that we do not work in a silo. We believe it's not just up to schools, school boards, and community literacy organizations to improve literacy rates. This is why we're a founding member of a network for literacy. It brings together diverse organizations across the province in an effort to introduce structural measures that address the causes and consequences of low literacy.
Our network was extremely pleased to read about the Liberal Party's recognition of the vital importance of literacy skills in ensuring success in today's society and the understanding of the vital role the non-profit sector plays in both policy development and program delivery.
Thank you.