Human Resources committee  Absolutely. It's a very narrow scope. It is very much limited to how labour market adjustments take place and what the agreements allow for. Within that, there are obviously targeted populations that are identified in a way that's actually trying to address those people living in poverty who need those kinds of skills, and so on.

Human Resources committee  That's a hard one. Yes, those are important, but if you don't have the ability of organizations to do that, to be able to deliver on those things and support them, you will not have longevity and you will not have the ability to service in the long term.

Human Resources committee  That is a very difficult question. It's fundamental in terms of service delivery, and I think there are two issues. One is that we expect people to leave the sector who have been in the sector for a long time. Most of them are women who are not prepared to retire, and they are going into poverty.

Human Resources committee  I'd have to think about that in terms of what strategies I think would be best met by that objective. It's hard to talk about something when, in a sense, the accord that was signed gave life to an arrangement and a relationship between government and this sector. Perhaps there is some way to bring that conversation back and focus on some of the deliverables that were agreed to then and that could be brought forward to make the relationship a useful and a trusting one.

Human Resources committee  The labour market area and the agreements that have been signed between Canada and the provinces are now at the table of most provinces. The Government of Canada is supporting these and leasing money through the labour market agreements to be able to do this. So I think an area of focus and investigation is the labour market.

Human Resources committee  I think so. It was signed in December 2001.

Human Resources committee  I have a copy, if you ever want it. I have many copies, actually.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee. I'm the co-chair of the Manitoba Federation of Non-Profit Organizations, and we reflect the ideals and the challenges that are facing our sector organizations and their capacities to deliver services in community.