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

D. Proposals

1. Literacy, Education and Training

Social Security is about much more than finding a paid job. Learning which enhances our capacity to achieve social security is also about much more than paid work. Learning is necessary for life, for cultural and social well-being, for community participation and active citizenship and for carrying out essential unpaid work at home and in the broader community, as well as for getting and keeping a job. The Green Paper's emphasis on the importance of learning in social security is to be applauded. It assumes, however, that access to learning opportunities should be contingent on labour market activity. It also assumes that learning creates labour market success, ignoring the structural nature of much of Canada's unemployment problem. Opportunities to engage in learning must not be contingent upon labour market activity.

The Green Paper has major implications for three spheres of learning: literacy, education and training.

a) Literacy

The Green Paper states that literacy is a necessity for all Canadians, and the Green Paper is right. Literacy includes a set of basic skills in reading, writing, communication and the use of numbers which all Canadians need. The Green Paper suggests that literacy is just about success in the labour market, but it is wrong. Fundamentally, literacy is about active participation in community life.

Women's access to and success in literacy programs must be ensured by paying attention to some key requirements. We know, for example that systemic barriers are created by violence, social isolation and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, class, (dis)ability and sexual orientation. These barriers are seldom explicitly recognized in basic skills programming. For women living in rural, remote, northern and coastal areas, geographical isolation from other literacy programs frequently creates insurmountable barriers. For women with disabilities, specific accommodation, including removal of physical barriers is essential. For all women, access to child care, financial assistance, transportation and woman-positive curricula and program services are key requirements. For immigrant, visible minority and refugee women, literacy training cannot be separated from access to language training in English or French which is sensitive to their diverse needs. Despite years of lobbying, the language needs of immigrant, visible minority and refugee women continue to be neglected, creating major barriers to advancement in the labour market.

According to the Movement for Canadian Literacy, 42% of Canadians - or about 7 million people - have low literacy skills. This includes 3 million people who have very limited literacy skills and another 4 million who have some difficulty with everyday reading tasks.