Mr. Speaker, I call on the federal government to reconsider its decision to allow the Pictou Career Resource Centre to close at the end of the month.
It is a grave misjudgment to close the Pictou Career Resource Centre, a critical resource in helping constituents secure gainful employment.
These services are being withdrawn from a region ranked among the top 39 Canadian centres to do business. Yet Pictou County workers are being denied services that would help them benefit from this strong business environment.
The services and resources offered at the centre are critical to encouraging people to take a proactive approach to their employment searches and to building a strong economy in that community.
The centre offers a range of services to help people become job ready: assistance with writing résumés and cover letters; effective job interview strategies; and the use of computers and online job banks.
Removing these resources and the valuable staff who deliver them is a real negative blow to local economic and skills development in Pictou County.
The human resource centre should remain open. I call upon the human resources minister to rescind and revisit these closure plans.