Recommendations

32. Social assistance must never be contingent on participation in training or employment programs.

33. Unpaid work, both domestic labour and volunteer work, needs to be recognized and compensated work, for example, through a system of deductions and tax credits.

34. Institute measures to improve women's fair and equitable access to the paid labour force. These measures would include
    · widely accessible and high quality childcare
    · pay equity
    · employment equity
    · support services, including services designed specifically for the needs of disabled women, etc.

35. Implement measures to create jobs in the Canadian economy. The Federal Government needs to play a role in economic development:
    a) at the community level in support of community economic development,
    b) at the regional or national levels in identifying strategies,
    c) at the global level in negotiating with transnational or other governments to protect the economic, social and environmental security of Canadians. These measures should include:
    · improved access to credit for women entrepreneurs
    · federal support for cooperative financial institutions, such as credit unions, lending circles
    · consider introducing a shorter standard work week, and reducing use of over-time by employers

36. Undertake a detailed consideration of the major options for improving the level of income support for Canadians, including a careful examination of a Guaranteed Annual Income, and the need to raise the minimum wage.

37. Implement measures which provide access to wider powers for those agencies responsible for enforcing child support payments.