Appreciation day urged for RCMP
Vernon men gather over 1,000 names of people in support of idea
When Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster rises in the B.C. legislature on Monday, he will present petitions with more than 1,000 names supporting the creation of a provincial Day of Appreciation for the RCMP on Feb. 1, 2020.
The petition, started last year by Vernon men Martin von Holst, Guy Bailey and Andy Wylie, seeks to have the declaration made in time for the 100th anniversary of the national police force, which merged the Dominion Police Force in the East with the Northwest Mounted Police in the West.
“We’ve contacted 101 communities in the province that have an RCMP presence and results are starting to come in,” said Bailey.
They also sent letters to each of the MLAs in the province.
Speaking as the petitions were being handed over to Foster, Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming said he has “deep respect” for members of the RCMP, whether they’re in service or have retired.
“They are an iconic symbol and they have a long history, and I look forward to there being an RCMP day in B.C.,” Cumming said.
At a morning event where Morneau picked up his shoes for Tuesday’s budget — the same ones he wore in 2016, but with some repair work from a femaleowned shop in Toronto’s Kensington Market district — the finance minister talked about how the government is looking for ways to provide workers dedicated time off for skills training and means to cover their expenses while they’re out of the workforce.
Morneau’s council of economic advisers recommended such a program in its final report in late 2017. The group called for the creation of a “Canada Lifelong Learning Fund,” to provide incentives for workers and companies to invest in skills development, as part of $15 billion in spending.
“When you think about going from one career to another career, it’s difficult, and that’s something that we’re thinking about in our budget this year,” Morneau said during the event, where he took questions from a gathering of children. “That’s what we’re going to be thinking about — how we help Canadians to take time off, how do we ensure that they can continue to live their life while they’re taking time off and how do they pay for their training.”
Paul Davidson, the president of
Universities Canada, welcomed the idea of personal learning accounts.
“All in all, I think what we’re seeing is a new conversation about skills and talent that looks not only at young people, but people throughout their careers,” said Davidson, whose organization represents 96 Canadian universities. “It looks at not only reskilling people once the market has disrupted them out of a job, but looking at up-skilling that people can do while they’re employed. So, those kinds of directions are very, very welcome.”
Since Morneau’s first budget three years ago, the unemployment rate has fallen close to a fourdecade low and job creation has outpaced expectations. As well, education levels in Canada are among the highest in the world.
But the economy is showing signs of cooling.
Top government officials worked for years on ways to help Canadians prepare for a world with fewer lifelong careers and more short-term jobs, a hallmark of the “gig” economy.
Federal officials quietly crafted a strategy, titled “Preparing Canadians for the Future,” that contains “bold ideas” so public policy doesn’t fall behind the curve, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.