Human Resources committee  As a single parent who lives with disability, perhaps I can also address this on a personal as well as professional level. Thank you for your comments, first of all. I'm really grateful to hear your comments. As a community of persons with disabilities, we feel the government ha

Human Resources committee  Actually my particular specialty is employer development, so I can actually address this subject not just on the disability issue alone, but as a matter of engaging employers. The reality is I'm so glad you said that, because that is an absolutely key issue. We can sit here amon

Human Resources committee  Since what year?

Human Resources committee  I can say this, and you can then cut in, if you have something more to say. I would like to say the concept of the opportunity fund is an excellent one. I would again remind you that 70% of persons with disabilities who want to work are unattached. We are talking about a great m

Human Resources committee  I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'm addressing persons with disabilities. We're also talking about one in five Nova Scotians. I feel we're talking about quite a large sector of our population versus what might be perceived as something very small. We happen to have the largest population

Human Resources committee  We need to further address the fact that the youth clearly aren't attached yet because they haven't had the opportunity. We have a huge crisis with what we call our transition youth, who are transitioning from school--or maybe they haven't even completed high school--and looking

Human Resources committee  Our specialization also includes partnering, because we believe providing educational opportunities for clients, employers, professionals, and government is good business. We understand that employers and co-workers have concerns around employing persons with disabilities, and we

Human Resources committee  In fact, youth employment funding, in terms of federal funding, has completely stopped in the HRM as of October 2005. Not one youth program since October 2005 has been funded by Service Canada, and we're concerned about these transition youth, because they have very little experi

Human Resources committee  We also ask that you commit to developing a working committee to bring federal, provincial, and municipal governments, as well as agencies and business together to map out an employability strategy for persons with disabilities. Lack of communication is a big concern.

Human Resources committee  We both are.

Human Resources committee  In 2004 the Government of Canada stated: People with disabilities need the chance to develop a solid foundation of learning so that they can participate fully in today’s knowledge-based society and economy. ... Skills development and learning are among the Government’s highest