Human Resources committee  The Canadian Policy Research Networks will not be pursuing legal recourse with respect to our contract. We think it's much more valuable for us to continue to contribute our resources in the area of knowledge rather than fighting a legal battle that's lopsided in terms of size. I

Human Resources committee  If I might just intervene, I'd like to correct the notion that volunteers are free, because they are not. Volunteers are a wonderful addition to Canada, and they make a great deal of difference in every single community, but they need support as well. The infrastructure of the Ca

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. Yes, you're right. CPRN does have a unique formula for funding, and it has grown over time. Again, this third-party, independent evaluation really looked at the specialized functions of the Canadian Policy Research Network, that it's an important reso

Human Resources committee  On the issue of advocacy, I'd just like to add, Mr. Chair, that Canada has a bijural Constitution. In other words, we have two forms of law, and there is no barrier in Quebec civil law to advocacy for charitable organizations. So it is an unusual step for a minister to take to ma

Human Resources committee  Certainly in terms of knowledge dissemination, the cuts to the policy capacity both inside government and outside government are significant. When you're talking about a new economy, a knowledge economy, you need to know before you can act. Particularly in areas where government

Human Resources committee  If I could begin on behalf of Canadian Policy Research Networks, this government signed our contract, the agreement for four years' worth of funding, in April of this year. We were not consulted, nor did we have any opportunities for discussion with the minister or senior bureauc

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. Thank you to the committee for inviting us here today. We're delighted to return. As you know, when you first met, we were one of the very first groups you called upon for advice in your deliberations, because of course of the quality of our research and it

Human Resources committee  I think the answer to your question is yes on both sides. Certainly the complexity of our society is increasing and it is more difficult to navigate the kind of life choices that are put in front of Canadians at every step of their lives, but at the same time we have wide bands o

Human Resources committee  Lower-status jobs, when we're talking about this, are really jobs that fall into the area often referred to as the secondary labour market. In other words, they're jobs without well-defined benefits, without well-defined work rules, without well-defined periods of work. These are

Human Resources committee  Let's take, for example, a visiting kind of health care worker, who would be there to assist in helping an older person take medication. They work for an agency in the voluntary sector; sometimes they're trained and sometimes they're not, or have very limited training. They may h

Human Resources committee  It's the job conditions as well as the specific employment itself, with respect to work hours and their predictability, and therefore, of course, the kind of income you can expect to receive for the job.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. And we need to have those jobs done, and this again speaks to the need to ensure that people are literate when they are in those jobs, so that they understand how to best protect themselves and also how to really negotiate better working conditions for themselves. Bec

Human Resources committee  It is very dramatic, and I think it is one we should all be concerned about, as people who are concerned about our country and the conditions and quality that we live in. What we're talking about is the ability to participate in democratic processes, understanding how you vote a

Human Resources committee  I'm going to turn to Ron, who may have a quick statistic on that one. No?

Human Resources committee  It's a very large percentage. When we're trying to think about this, often when we're looking at problem areas in our country, we're looking at a narrow piece of the population. But this is not narrow. This is a wide-band group. It really is talking about a lot of people who are