This week 28 representatives from national labour and employment organizations, social justice groups, unions, individuals with a lived experience of poverty and faith based organizations are gathering in Ottawa to join Dignity for All: the campaign for a poverty-free Canada in crafting policy recommendations on labour, employment and poverty.
The summit, “Poverty, Labour and Employment” is the fifth in a series of events where campaign members and topic experts converge to work on the foundation of a campaign-drafted federal poverty plan.
Labour and employment are an important area to consider in the creation of a federal poverty plan. This summit was broken into five themes:
- Growth and the prevalence of precarious employment
- Skills development, training and youth employment
- The union advantage for marginalized groups
- Strong public services/privatization at all levels
- Panel on employment equality for marginalized groups (women, racialized persons, persons with disabilities and aboriginal persons)
The campaign has the privilege of having various experts make presentations and join discussions including:
- Stephanie Procyk (United Way Toronto)
- Mike Luff and Amy Huziak (Canadian Labour Congress)
- David MacDonald (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
- Karl Flecker (formerly with the Canadian Labour Congress)
- Alexa Conradi (la Federation des femmes du Québec)
- Avvy Go (Colour of Poverty)
- Bryan Hendry (Assembly of First Nations)
- Michael Prince (Council of Canadians with Disabilities)
Recommendations from each presentation will focus on what the federal government could do with regards so social policy and a pan-Canadian poverty plan. We anticipate that the following key themes will arise in the recommendations:
- The federal government should explore different ways to support human capital development through the expansion of training programs
- Measures should be implemented that mandate the hiring of young workers (particularly those who are member of marginalized groups) in publicly-funded infrastructure projects
- Consultation with key stakeholders including employers, education institutions and stakeholders must be ongoing
- Reforming the Employment Insurance (EI) system regarding part-time work so that it better accommodates women, recent immigrants and racialized workers
- Investing in public and green infrastructure
- Promotion of self-employment and business development by the federal government
- Improving and investing in training strategies to promote employment for marginalized groups.
The recommendations will receive input from all participants and will be posted on the Dignity for All Policy Recommendations webpage in the coming weeks. Presentations of the various speakers will be accessible on this page as well.
Stay tuned for the next steps for the plan including a review of all recommendations from previous summits (childcare, housing, income, food security and health) and development of the campaign poverty plan!
