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Bolstering funding to Community Colleges and Institutions is essential to full economic recovery and the building of a green economy.
Ottawa (22 May, 2009) - James Clancy writes to Canada's Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty with three steps that will ensure a vital public education and training sector capable of providing training and retraining for those that have lost their jobs during this economic recession.
Community Colleges and Institutions employ tens of thousands of dedicated men and women across Canada with good jobs. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the growing training and education needs of communities - with shrinking funding and increasing numbers of unemployed looking for a future. The 2009 federal budget provided modest increases for post-secondary education but not enough to combat these new pressures that community colleges and institutes are now faced with.
The first step is to significantly bolster the Canada Social Transfer (CST) so that vital programs can be created that meet the training and retraining needs of our new emerging green economy.
Secondly, Employment Insurance (EI) must become more accessible along with the education and training opportunities the EI system offers.
Finally, the creation of a national industrial strategy that includes a just transition to green jobs is needed to guide our public post-secondary education system and create a 21st century economy. Skills development in the trades, and apprenticeship programs are the cornerstone for the new green economy. A just transition for workers to new jobs must be part of a fair strategy.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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