New loggers in the Prince George region are not expected to be habitual welfare recipients, even if they once were.
The Central Interior Logging Association is taking exception to comments made recently by federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney in which he told his provincial counterparts he was planning to axe hundreds of millions of current training dollars because they were not having the desired effect of getting un- or under-employed workers into productive jobs. Kenney said in media discussions on the topic that the current Labour Market Agreement fosters "habitual welfare recipients" and wasted money by giving such people no more than a polished resume and some job interview orientation.
"[I take] offence to Kenney’s sweeping comments and generalizations about trainees," said CILA executive director MaryAnne Arcand. “Programs like ours have [put people who want work] but couldn’t access the industry because they couldn’t afford training, into real jobs. Without them in the seat, the machine or truck would be sitting idle. [These employees] are legitimate, effective, and meet the needs of the industry. To label these folks as 'habitual welfare recipients' and 'not workers' is not only unfair, it is untrue. They are now fully and productively employed, contributing to the economy, and enjoying a much improved lifestyle for themselves and their families.“
Kenney's B.C. ministerial counterpart is Prince George MLA Shirley Bond. She and the other provincial ministers responsible for labour and skills training met together with Kenney in the wake of his statements and announcement about scrapping the Labour Market Agreement (LMA). Bond said they were unanimously united against changing the system.
"Ministers were very clear about the effectiveness of these programs," Bond said. "In no way is it training for training's sake. It is doing what it was designed to do. Throughout the entire LMA document it references the people we are tailoring our programs for. Now, due to a shift in thinking, the most vulnerable Canadians are at risk."
The new plan proposed by Kenney called for the private sector to buy in with financial contributions to go along with provincial and federal dollars. Bond said the problems with this were numerous, like small business being unable to afford it compared larger companies, a smaller investment pot, less uniform programing from region to region, etc.
"I have spoken to organizations that offer these programs," Bond said. "The statistics tell us that some individuals require extra assistance, yes, but that is their best chance at moving into the workforce. Many are getting opportunities for employment they never had and never would have had were it not for these programs. Without programs like this, there are people who would be left on the employment sidelines. To all the ministers' credit we were united that these vulnerable Canadians need these programs."
Bond said Kenney showed signs of flexibility she had not seen prior to the meetings held in Toronto. She also saw a greater willingness from the provincial ministers to spend more time together expressing their group wishes to the federal level, spreading best practices, and perhaps whittling away some of the inter-provincial roadblocks to grassroots employment.
"We have no argument that employers could be more involved, and we definitely appreciate the concept of up-skilling, but we want to make sure people not in the job market get into the job market. It's a fundamental difference in thinking. But minister Kenney opened the door to further discussion and flexibility and we appreciated that."
If the federal proposal holds true, and the province were to pay the difference to maintain the same programs, it would cost B.C. taxpayers $80 million out of provincial coffers but the same federal taxes would still be paid to Ottawa. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"I think Minister Kenney has a much better view of the effectiveness of the programs we have designed, we expressed that. We hope that makes a difference," she said.
Arcand said CILA had trained almost 200 new loggers using the current system and the hiring rate was 100 per cent. Their companion organization the Interior Logging Association had an 87 per cent hiring rate for its similar program. Also, she said, the followup feedback from the employers has been overwhelmingly positive about the trainees.
"[Losing your training program] is terrible news for our company," Annie Horning, CEO of Excel Transportation told Arcand when Kenney's proposal was announced."We are looking to expand and grow. What is the point if we don’t have drivers?We have had huge success with the drivers coming out of your program and if we want to bring high standards back to the driving profession, we need your program to assist us."
