Four National Women's Groups: CCLOW · CFWEC · CRIAW · NOIVMWC



Recommendations:

  1. Maintain the Federal Government commitment to support of university level research and, as soon as possible, enhance this support.

  2. As an alternative to the Income Contingent Repayment Plan, develop a student loan program which recognizes the needs of women in Canada for equitable access to post-secondary education and for financial support measures which do not penalize those: who are on social assistance; who do not enter directly from secondary education; who take longer to compete because of interruptions in education; who are unable to secure well-paying work on completing their education; who need to cover costs for child care, counselling or other non-tuition items as part of their education.

  3. Establish Prior Learning Assessment measures, ensuring portability and transferability of skills, knowledge and certification across jurisdictional boundaries. Procedures for establishing Canadian equivalence for foreign credentials are an essential component.

  4. Expand distance education networks to ensure that rural, remote and northern Canadians and those with limited access to transportation can complete a post-secondary education in a suitable field of study.

  5. Job creation strategies, pay equity, employment equity and measures for the integration of paid and unpaid work responsibilities, such as comprehensive child care are essential if women are to realize an adequate return on their investment in post-secondary education.

c) Training

Training is any planned learning opportunity that enhances a person's capacity to carry out paid or unpaid work. It includes continuing education classes, community college education, workplace-based training, distance education and community-based employment training. In addition to directly job-related skills, training includes learning which enhances life skills and active participation in community life.

The Green Paper places a major emphasis on training as a means of moving people away from Unemployment Insurance and social assistance. Training can make an important difference to employability, but it does not create jobs, except for the trainers. Employment-related training is only useful if it enhances actual employment prospects. In situations where there are no jobs to be had, all the training in the world will not make a difference.

Canadians do not need penalties, threats or incentives in order to participate in job-related training. Among women earning over $40,000 per year, about 60% participated in some form of training in 1991. When good, job relevant training is available - as it is to higher income earners, people freely choose to participate in it. Using Unemployment Insurance funds for training takes benefits away from workers, increases premiums for employers and excludes self-employed, contract and contingent workers.

Attaching training requirements to social assistance programs reduces funds available for the central purpose of provision of income security, and increases the complexity of an already bureaucratized and wasteful administrative system. Linking training to either Unemployment Insurance or social assistance does nothing to address the training needs of people who do not qualify for Unemployment Insurance and who are not receiving social assistance. Many of these people are the working poor - people who have jobs which do not pay an adequate income. Many of the working poor in Canada are women. The Green Paper is making a serious error in proposing to tie training to Unemployment Insurance and social assistance programs.


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