Labour accords designed to serve province's workers: Parent

BY BRENT FOX

bfox@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The provincial and federal governments have signed a half-billion dollars in labour agreements designed to better serve workers.

Nova Scotia Labour Minister Mark Parent and federal Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg signed the accords in Halifax June 13. It includes the transfer of a number of services from the federal to provincial governments.

The new Labour Market Development Agreement provides the province with $81 million annually over five years for EI-funded employment benefits and supports. The aim is to allow flexibility in focusing job training programs and supports on workers’ and employers’ local and regional needs.

The new Labour Market Agreement means $85 million, or $14.1 million annually over six years to the province for skills upgrading in such fields as information technology, health care and construction. As well, clients will include many of those previously excluded from the workforce: aboriginal people, immigrants, or the disabled. Programs would not be limited to those receiving EI benefits, as in the past.

Parent told The Kings County Advertiser/The Hants Journal in an interview at his office later that day, “it gives us a lot more flexibility and funding so we can take on specific needs.” It allows the province to be more pro-active in labour requirements.

As well, services will be available to many who were not previously covered, including parents who stayed at home to raise their children and are now trying to get back into the workforce.

Need to sustain rural economy

The province is still rural, Parent noted, and the need is there to sustain a rural economy.

He said those federal civil servants coming into the provincial service to cover the programs assumed by the province would retain their pay and benefits as negotiated by the governments. “We value their experience and wisdom,” Parent said.

As well, those non-profit agencies currently providing employment programs will continue to do so.

Citing his own background in the non-profit sector, he acknowledged that they can often provide services more effectively and efficiently. The former clergyman acknowledged, “this is the first time I have ever signed off on a half-billion dollar agreement.”

In his remarks following the June 13 signing in Halifax, Parent said the agreements are a giant step in the delivery of labour market services and represent a more than $500 million investment in helping the province’s workers prepare for a prosperous future. Strengthening of fields such as the financial, health care, technology and environmental trade sectors are examples of the move to a more diversified economy, he said.