Human Resources committee  That's very interesting. That's not something I heard of and when I do these things, I often learn as much as I explain. Our focus tends to be on the broader policy and occasionally we do more detailed work, but I think you are the front-line focus group, finding out whether ther

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question and that insight. I certainly did not want to suggest that I thought getting employers involved in training was a waste of time. That certainly isn't my intention. We believe that employers must be more engaged with training. What I was sug

Human Resources committee  I agree fully with that. I think the federal government always has to be realistic about what it can know and can do, and the labour market training needs are different in Saskatchewan from those in Nova Scotia. At the end of the day, I have not heard anyone say that the federal

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question. As I was saying earlier, I think it would be very tough to give other workers access to the EI contributions employees have made. I completely agree with you. But I think the option of exercising more flexibility when it comes to applying em

Human Resources committee  I think it's very difficult. It's very difficult because the LMDA is funded by employer and employee contributions. At its core it's an insurance program. As a matter of principle, if there are a bunch of people who are outside that system and not making contributions to EI, it m

Human Resources committee  I appreciate the challenge, I appreciate the difficulty, I appreciate the inter-regional dimension of this. When money is on the table in these things, if someone is getting more, someone is getting less. I appreciate all of that. We have not come up with a specific recommendat

Human Resources committee  You are a master builder evidently.

Human Resources committee  I don't know enough about the apprenticeship point that you have just made to comment on it in detail. I agree that we need more apprentices and that particularly some western provinces are doing better on the ratios than Ontario is. What I would say is that our general thrust i

Human Resources committee  Of course.

Human Resources committee  Quite succinctly, the labour market agreements were developed, in part, as a specific recognition that the LMDAs and EI don't work particularly well in Ontario. Everyone here is aware of the challenges of EI reform. In the 2000s there was a recognition that, rather than try to ch

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. As I said in my opening statement, I believe it's very important for the federal government to put forward an approach that gives workers greater access to funding put into labour market development agreements for the formation of human capital. Curr

Human Resources committee  It would be necessary to make more funding available under labour market agreements and less funding available through labour market development agreements. Labour market agreements offer much more flexibility and are more open to all Canadians and workers. That would be the firs

Human Resources committee  Sure, I thought I still had a minute. I will say there are four solutions to this. One, make it easier for provinces to use the LMDA funding to help unemployed Canadians, regardless of whether they qualify for employment insurance. Two, move more of the federal training dolla

Human Resources committee  I'm happy to go first.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. I'm very pleased to be here. Thank you very much for inviting me to Ottawa. I do want to say that I am wearing a LEGO tie. I wanted that to be part of the official record because I promised my children that I would wear the LEGO tie, and my five-year-old in