Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program funding for Literacy BC’s Learning Disabilities and Adult Basic Education project

Speech
06/30/2009

Speaking Notes For Dona Cadman, M.P. Surrey North
Vancouver, British Columbia

on behalf of
the Honourable Diane Finley,
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development 

Thank you. Bonjour.

It’s great to be here on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, who sends her best wishes.

I would like to commend those of you from Literacy BC.

You have been delivering literacy and basic skills programs to adults for 19 years.

Throughout this time, you have been paying close attention to what your students need and where they want to go—helping them find their own pathways.
Through your hard work, you have given your students the opportunity to fully participate—at school, at work and in our society.

This creates so many benefits.

Strengthening literacy and essential skills has a positive impact on everything else in a person’s life.

You devote yourselves to increasing literacy because you know how important it is to the health, quality of life and well-being of people in this region.

You also know that better literacy skills improve employment prospects as well as income.

Enhanced literacy and essential skills give Canadians greater selfconfidence—and sometimes, that’s all it takes to create a foundation for success.

I am inspired by your contributions to our region.

And I am proud to be part of a government that is working with you to make a positive difference in the lives of Canadians.

For this reason, I am pleased to announce that our government is investing more than $389,000 in Literacy BC’s Learning Disabilities and Adult Basic Education project.

With this funding, the project will build the ability of adult literacy practitioners to better understand adults with learning disabilities and help them improve their literacy and essential skills.

What does this mean?

Literacy practitioners will work together to develop ways of providing more effective support to adults who have learning disabilities.

Ultimately, both the teachers and the learners will benefit from having improved literacy materials.


Improving Canadians’ literacy and essential skills is a key part of this government’s commitment to make the Canadian workforce the best educated, most skilled and most flexible in the world.

Our government underscored this commitment in Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

To help Canadian workers and their families weather the global economic downturn and prepare for the country’s long-term growth, we are investing an unprecedented 8.3 billion dollars in the Canada Skills and Transition Strategy.

In today’s environment, it is more important than ever that Canadians have the skills they need to participate and succeed in the job market.

When Canadians have the chance to upgrade their skills, they are more likely to succeed.

So thank you all for joining me today in helping the people of Canada build on the promise of opportunity.