This level related more to the amount of money and strategy available for the employment related programs than it did to the compensation of the ECs. By and large, few made comments about their salaries, but all made comments about the amount of money needed for the work they saw ahead. The province should increase funding for innovative projects that produce measurable results. An assessment of current practices and the results being achieved is the best starting point to begin measuring innovative, integrated and strategic projects. Small and confined pockets of funding will not allow the EC to produce real results and labour market attachment of Aboriginal Job Seekers in rural and Northern Manitoba.
Effective management of resources that leaves no damage to the environment describes a healthy indicator at this level and does relate to the role of the Manitoba government. Without real impact measurements, it is unclear which long term indicators will help to determine the consequences of fragmented services and continued poverty in many of Manitoba’s Aboriginal communities. Manitoba needs to lobby the Federal government for better statistical information to ensure the right focus on policy when the lens turns to the Prairies. The lack of a labour market in the rural and northern areas has a far-reaching impact on the effectiveness of the EC. Aggressive labour market development activities will help the EC in many ways, both through a boost in possible opportunities for clients, but also more opportunities for innovative, integrated, and strategic programming.
Manitoba does not have an integrated awareness of the entire environment surrounding the employment systems and how they can work together. The EC has a view to the networks surrounding the individual job seeker on their journey and perhaps a more fitting job title would be Employment Systems Advocate. Provincial services that are more efficiently integrated will help the EC to provide better services to the job seeker and thereby benefit their job effectiveness. Currently the EC is caught up in competing political agendas as they try to implement their activities. Inclusion of the EC in planning for an aggressive labour market strategy will help the province develop an integrated framework from which to address the concerns of the labour market. The growth predictions for Manitoba would be healthier with a fully inclusive, diverse, and skilled workforce available to meet the employers’ needs.