"He said, 'I think that reading comprehension is a problem for our people. I have about 300 people and about two-thirds are having difficulties, so I need 170 tutors.' At first I was overwhelmed but then I started to think, this is manageable too."

With substantial funding from Syncrude, Nancy set to work (with help and support from Mary Norton, Keyano College and a number of Syncrude employees who agreed to be pilot-participants for the program) to develop and implement a workplace literacy program called ERIC - Effective Reading in Context.

Nancy is very proud of the program. "The joy for me is that we have a really comprehensive workplace literacy program that reflects my belief about what literacy is and how literacy works. Just reading isn't enough and just writing isn't enough. Reading, writing, speaking, numeracy and listening is really a comprehensive approach. All of it wraps around the day-co-day work that the Syncrude guys are doing. There are no commercial materials involved in the program; it's all onsite material. Syncrude has probably invested a couple hundred thousand dollars to develop the program and pay for instruction but they are pleased with the program. That's partly because they had realistic expectations. In the 3 years since the program started, they have looked at spin-off benefits like attitude and interest. They didn't expect productivity to hike overnight. Syncrude believes in an 'empowered team approach'. Better reading, writing and speaking helps employees function better in team positions. Part of the empowerment is in providing those real basic literacy skills."

The next morning Nancy agreed to pick me up at the hotel to take me to Keyano College. Waiting for Nancy at the front door I had a minute to browse through the newsstand and was suddenly struck by the front page headline of The Globe and Mail. "Workplace study gives low marks to reading, writing". The article continued, "More than half of the workers at B.C. sawmills can't understand complex written instructions." Nancy came through the front door and found me reading.

"Did you see this?" I asked Nancy showing her the front section of the newspaper.

"Yes I did," Nancy said smiling. "On the front page yet! Reading and writing on the job is now an important issue and it's making front page news. And the coverage is good. It doesn't say, 'One man killed because he couldn't read' ... they are writing about facts that are not sensational news but it is still there on the front page."

Nancy took me to the classroom at Keyano College where the ERIC program is held. We had a chance to talk for an hour before the pace of Nancy's day picked up.

After seeing The Globe and Mail article I asked Nancy how she feels about public awareness efforts in literacy. "To me, public awareness means recognition then acceptance. People are coming to my literacy program now who view it as a broad-based program in that it doesn't just 'help those illiterate guys' - it provides reading and writing polishing, any kinds of development in that area that they might need. That's a big change."

Nancy knew Jim Bell from his days of teaching ABE at Keyano College. I described his concerns to her about awareness not necessarily leading to action. "My response to that is... time," Nancy said readily. "Recognition, acceptance and then action. Action only comes after the other two. Recognition and acceptance are what I would call the infant stages of action."