We only need to look to the tragedy a year ago on September 11 and the action that it triggered in Afghanistan as the Taliban regime was removed from power. What was one of the first things the Afghan people did, particularly the women? They started to reopen their schools. They brought out those banned books and they said that they wanted to be able to read and to learn again. And, always at the heart of it, they wanted to be able to teach their children.

That is the power of literacy. It is at the very core of equality of opportunity around our world. Without question, we have come a long way in the past two decades. Slowly but surely, governments at all levels, along with business and labour, educators, institutions of higher learning, and our volunteer sector are all working closer together.

The major word in literacy is “partnership,” and yet there are still those who don’t get it, and therefore it often doesn’t get factored into the decision-making process in an effective way.

Next week here in Toronto there will be a national summit on innovation and skills in learning. This is a federal initiative that has been going on across the country for the past two years. And it has the opportunity to be a great occasion. I want to tell you, I’ll be there and I’ll be standing near any microphone I can grab to make sure, with all of the expertise and the ?ne objectives on display, that the words “ literacy” and “learning” are part of that summit and part of the decision-makers’ view of how this country can and must be run.

This is not rocket science. And one of the biggest problems is lack of awareness and that is why this conference at York University is great.

If ever there was an occasion for our voices to be ever more constant and compelling, it is now – to persuade Canadians, not just the decision-makers, but all Canadians that this issue is real, it exists, and it has to be dealt with. And then, just as important, we must also persuade all of those who have learning difficulties that they need not be afraid. There are people, like many in this room who are eager to help them, and it’s okay to come forward and seek that help.

Yet, with everything that I am saying here, only around ten percent of those who need that help are encouraged or comfortable enough to come forward. The most recent edition of the International Adult Literacy Survey, called IALS, has shown that the fundamental story of literacy in Canada has not really changed in the last five years. That eight million number is not budging. It is partly because technology has so quickly raised the learning bar. But the other part of it is that we still have a lot of work to do in bringing out the people and forcing other levels of our society, like government and the business sector, to see that it is in their own interest to become involved. If you have to point to pro?t levels and bottom lines on future costs to the Canadian people, so be it. Whatever works!