Belinda Stronach

[Employment Insurance, June 20th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we conduct an annual monitoring and assessment of the EI program in order to ensure that it better meets the needs of Canadian workers.

I would happy to work with my colleague across the floor to look into this situation.

[Older Workers, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the current programming we are looking at will enable workers to develop their skills to stay in the workforce, not just to retire. There is temporary income support through EI, but we are also looking at active measures that will teach workers to develop and improve their skills with technology. We are working together with the provinces to ensure we develop the right programs to enable workers to stay in the workforce longer, if they choose, to have economic freedom and the choice to do so.

[Older Workers, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, let me say again that we understand the need to help older workers, not only to stay in the workforce, but to ensure that we evaluate these pilot programs properly. We have extended the pilot programs. We take them seriously. We will take the outcomes of those pilot programs into consideration when we develop our strategy in tandem with the provinces.

[Older Workers, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we invested $50 million five years ago in pilot programs. We have extended those programs for a year because we do take this seriously. We understand the need to invest and create programs so older workers can develop their skills to stay in the workforce.

We used to have programs that enabled workers to retire. These programs are there to enable those workers who wish to continue to work to do so. We are studying them. We will take the evaluations into consideration and ensure we adopt, adapt and make the right program for older workers.

[Older Workers, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we were very happy to agree with the need to have a strategy in place for an older worker program. We recognize we must help older workers, not only to upgrade their skills to stay in the workforce, but we must work together to monitor the pilot programs that are in place. We will take those evaluations into consideration when making our strategy.

We do recognize the need to have an older worker strategy in place and I am doing so.

[Supply, June 9th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, factory closures happen for a number of reasons. Broadly based, there is increased global competition. How will Canada compete in this global economy?

I strongly believe we must invest in people and build the human capital. That is more of a concept of lifelong learning. Everybody needs a good quality job at the end of the day. We have to invest in young people, ensure they get the right early start in life and have access to education. As they enter the workforce, we also have to ensure that they continuously upgrade their skills.

It is not just about identifying programs for workers who have lost their jobs. There are programs in place for that. This is looking at it in a more comprehensive way such as how people can continuously upgrade their skills in life as the demands of this global economy force us to do so, as competition increases and we have to be more productive. There are a number of ways to be more productive, but an important part of that is investing in people so people build the knowledge base and the skills base that allow them to compete for good quality jobs and so business has access to a highly qualified and skilled workforce to allow it to compete in the global marketplace.

[Supply, June 9th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, as a principle, we are moving more toward a concept of lifelong learning. That means investing in our young people and those employees who currently have a job so they can upgrade their skills to meet the challenges of the workplace. It also means taking a look at older workers, how they can stay in the workplace, upgrade their skills and work with employers to ensure the investment is there as workers approach retirement years.

We are looking at it in a comprehensive way, and that would be lifelong learning. However, that lifelong learning will be incorporated into our workplace skills strategy, which we are currently refining and working on and which we should be able to release fairly soon.

[Supply, June 9th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to say that we support the motion. As the workforce is aging, we believe we must take a look at this and do everything we possibly can. We have to find out how we can best enable more mature workers to continue working.

We support the motion. I welcome all ideas as we develop the strategy. We have done quite a bit of work already, recognizing that the conclusions out of the pilot project will come forward in November. They will form good input. They also will be the basis on which to build on that strategy.

I welcome good ideas on how we can better enable more mature workers to be contributors to the economy, to achieve economic freedom and independence and to build a better quality of life.

[Supply, June 9th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, the goal at the end of the day is to provide a better quality of life for all Canadians. In particular, we are discussing older Canadians. I appreciate the member's comments and I will ensure that we take those comments into consideration when we look at the overall comprehensive strategy. I will be happy to discuss that in great detail with my colleagues to ensure we look at things in a comprehensive way.

The goal at the end of the day is to provide a better qualify of life for seniors and for older workers. We have done a number of things to address that, both as it relates to temporary income support program, which applies basically to all Canadians, and through active measures, in particular the pilot programs that are currently underway and which have been extended until May 2006.

The conclusion of those pilot programs should come out in November. They will form a great input or the basis for the strategy that we are to develop as we go forward.

The goal is a better quality of life and how can we enable more mature citizens to upgrade their skills to adapt to the changes in the workplace and in the increased competition through globalization and to ensure that their skills are relevant so at the end of the day they are able to use those skills to find a good quality job, if they wish to do so.

[Supply, June 9th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, as the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, I am pleased to participate in this discussion. The motion presented by the hon. member for Chambly—Borduas talks about establishing a strategy to help older workers who lose their jobs and a strategy that should include income support measures. The Government of Canada has already begun helping older workers to meet the challenges they face following loss of their employment.

Today's labour market is changing like never before and it is no stretch to say that globalization is one of the main factors spurring on such an evolution. Obviously, living in a global village has also opened the door to a wide world of opportunities. Such opportunities have allowed all of us, from governments to business and individual citizens, to build a better society in order to enhance our understanding of the world around us and to participate in the building of a country whose economy is thriving and prosperous.

However, globalization does have it challenges. An aggressive global marketplace means that productivity and competitiveness are crucial. Canadians are very successful in this global marketplace. Just take a look at our unemployment rate. In fact, during this period of intensifying global competitiveness, our unemployment rate has dropped from 12.1% in 1992 to 6.8% today.

The Government of Canada knows that globalization also means change. We cannot ignore the fact that certain communities, certain sectors and some Canadians face real challenges. Nor can we ignore the fact that our labour force which began to slow in the 1980s will slow even more as older baby boomers begin to retire. In the next 10 years retirement will create more job openings and growth in our economy. In fact, by 2013 retirements are expected to rise to 470,000 and by that same year should account for 75% of all new job openings.

Mindful of such statistics and factors, the Government of Canada has created tools and programs to help Canadians. Whenever Canadians are affected by major labour market adjustments, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, in partnership with other departments and with provincial and territorial governments, is there to respond quickly and effectively.

The Government of Canada is aware that supports for workers who experience unemployment are critical to maintain the quality of life for themselves and their families, to allow time for them to adjust, gain new skills if necessary, and to move on to new employment and to help stabilize the economies of communities that are affected by a downturn in employment. To this end more than $9 billion has already been provided in EI income benefits to people who lost their jobs last year and this does not include the over $4 billion paid in special benefits. Nearly $1.2 billion went to workers aged 55 and over. Overall, 186,000 older workers received help.

As my colleagues in the House already know, employment insurance provides temporary income support to insured people in Canada who involuntarily lose their jobs. It is specifically designed to be responsive to changes in labour markets by adjusting entrance requirements and the duration of entitlement to regular benefits when regional unemployment rates change. Whenever Canadian communities are faced with economic hardship, HRSDC is quick to get involved to ensure that those workers who are affected receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

For example, officials from a local HRSDC office will usually get in touch with the affected companies and immediately offer their assistance. This often includes helping employees make their claims for EI benefits and processing those claims as quickly as possible. Rapid processing of EI claims is important and not just for financial support purposes. The sooner workers receive compensation, the sooner they become eligible for active employment measures.

The Government of Canada knows that income support is not enough. That is why we provided $2.2 billion in active measures to help Canadians prepare for new jobs. We know what workers want most is to re-enter the workforce quickly. Losing a job is not the equivalent of losing the desire to work. Given our globalized economy and demographic challenges, we need the skills and the experience that our older workers bring to the workplace.

What are we doing about it? As I said, we spent $2.2 billion in collaboration with the provinces and the territories. These funds support a wide range of programs across Canada that are tailored to meet the needs of the local communities. For example, unemployed workers can receive up to three years of training if they need skills upgrading in order to find new and lasting employment. If they choose to start a new business, they can receive income support for up to one year, or longer if disabled.

Programs are also in place for people who just need new or additional work experience to improve their chances of finding permanent employment, but more than ever, we know that the world has changed since our most experienced workers entered the workplace.

Today, the small things matter. Writing a resumé, preparing for an interview, and understanding job search strategies all play a big role in finding a new job. We are there working in partnership with the provinces and the territories, employers and communities to meet these challenges.

Let me talk a little bit about the older workers pilot project initiative. In addition to EI measures we have been working in close collaboration with the provinces and the territories to test new and innovative approaches to help older workers to find and retain employment.

Over the past six years the government has invested over $50 million in the older workers pilot project initiative. I am pleased to inform the House that the initiative was recently extended to May 2006 and has been enriched by $5 million. The provinces that participated in the initiative are Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

I would like to present two examples of these projects. First, an agriculture awareness community service program on the Bay de Verde Peninsula that saw 12 unemployed workers between the ages of 55 and 64 learn nursery skills and the use of related modern technologies. Second, the creation and delivery of a broad training initiative that prepared 40 workers, aged over 50, unemployed due to fish plant closures, to re-enter the workforce in Nova Scotia's Guysborough County.

There are many more projects under way and many more Canadians are re-entering the workplace, thanks to the older workers pilot project initiative.

There is also the workplace skills strategy. Our approach to help working Canadians does not end there. The Government of Canada wants to support all Canadian workers to help them to keep working. In today's economy, the best way for them to stay employed is to upgrade and refine old skills and to develop new ones so they can better adapt to the changing circumstances of our workplaces.

Because our country's future competitiveness rests largely on the shoulders of productive, high performance workplaces that support skills development, the Government of Canada announced in the last Speech from the Throne a workplace skills strategy. It will ensure that the Canadian workforce is highly skilled, adaptable and resilient, that will add to a flexible and efficient labour market, and will respond to the needs of employers to ensure that our workplaces are productive, innovative and competitive.

Budget 2005 set aside $125 million over three years to begin implementing our plan to strengthen the skills of Canadian workers. This strategy is based on extensive research conducted in recent years as well as advice we have received from stakeholders like the provinces, employers, unions and learning institutions.

Sector councils have provided valuable advice on how to best develop and utilize the skills and abilities of Canadians. They have led the way in anticipating and planning for workforce adjustments. Across Canada, some 30 national sector councils bring together business, labour, educational stakeholders and key industries to identify and address common human resources and skills issues, and to find solutions that benefit each of those particular sectors.

These councils are instrumental in giving Canadians a cutting edge lead into the 21st century workplace by ensuring that current workers and those seeking employment are well prepared for the challenges of this rapidly evolving labour market. The textile and apparel sectors in Quebec offer perfect examples of these industries trying to adapt to an increasingly globalized world.

Recently we invested $5.9 million in the Textiles Human Resources Council and $3.4 million in the Apparel Human Resources Council. We recognize the significant place their industries occupy in this economy. Few sectors can boast a better investment record than the textile industry. As a direct consequence of its position at the forefront of innovation, firms have become globally competitive players carrying out new international markets. Yet despite its very progressive place in the world market, the textile industry is still adapting.

Likewise, the apparel industry, with a workforce of 65,000 people and exports of $3.5 billion in goods annually, is at the cutting edge of this global economy. However, with the entry of China into the WTO and the lifting of all import quotas, the apparel industry is going through an intense restructuring phase. However, this sector is responding to the adjustment challenges by taking steps to attract young people, recruit skilled workers, as well as to retain the current workforce.

Both the Textiles Human Resources Council and the Apparel Human Resources Council have set themselves at the forefront of these issues affecting their respective industries. They are providing investments in people that yield significant returns for individuals, industry, the economy and society at large, and the other 28 sector councils are doing the same.

Employment among older workers has grown steadily since the mid-1990s and has generally outpaced growth among workers aged between 25 and 54, as well as youth aged between 15 and 24. In fact the unemployment rate for workers aged 45 and over currently stands at 5.4% while the unemployment rate for Canadians aged between 55 and 64 is currently holding steady at 5.9%. Both figures are slightly lower than the national unemployment rate at 6.8%.

These numbers are a clear indication that Canada's older workers still have a valuable place in our labour market, so we should be doing even more to promote greater awareness of older workers, not less. For example, we can make it easier for older adults to access training. We can advance the recruitment of older adults. We can increase recognition of credentials within Canada to facilitate the labour movement. Each of these strategies will help us to enhance opportunities for older workers rather than to limit them.

Recognizing that the government of Canada already provides substantial income support to older workers through the EI program and is actively engaged with the provinces and with the territories in assessing ways to improve our already significant active re-employment measure, I am pleased to support this motion which calls for an older worker strategy.