ISSUE OF FEDERAL SPENDING CUTS RAISED

OTTAWA, ON – The Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, along with Members of Parliament from across the country, are meeting with ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and key representatives of this country’s literacy community today in an event called Literacy Action Day, organized by the Ottawa-based national non-profit organization Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) in cooperation with other national literacy organizations.

“This is a great event that affords opportunities for literacy providers and MPs to meet and discuss pertinent literacy issues in this country,” says Margaret Eaton, President, ABC CANADA. “We thank The Hon. Diane Finley and the members of parliament who have taken time from their busy schedules to engage in this dialogue.”

Part of the agenda for discussion will be the recent federal spending cuts, announced September 25, that jeopardize the ability of provincial and territorial literacy coalitions to provide needed supports for literacy practitioners and adult learners.

“We trust this will be part of an ongoing dialogue that, ultimately, will bring about needed changes to ensure that adults with low literacy, wherever they may live, have access to the skills upgrading they need,” says Eaton.

According to Statistics Canada and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), four out of 10 Canadian adults – that’s nine million working-age Canadians – struggle, in varying degrees, with low literacy.

Across the country, the toll of the cuts is severe:

*The Yukon Literacy Coalition programs are jeopardized, including its community literacy development, family literacy programming, learner support and its development of a territory-wide learners network. Local projects in youth literacy, family literacy, workplace literacy, and First Nations literacy are all at risk. Unless additional funds are found, the coalition will close its doors in three to four months;

*The NWT Literacy Council has seen a third of its budget cut, putting its Community Outreach Program on hold because it can no longer afford to travel to remote communities to support literacy workers. Aurora College literacy programs are jeopardized, and its outreach centres in Inuvik and Yellowknife are at risk;

*In British Columbia, Literacy BC will lose support of a number of specific activities, including training and development for literacy practitioners in the field, an electronic conferencing network that keeps practitioners around the province in touch with one another (a key resource for sharing best practices), and a project working with community literacy groups to define and measure outcomes for their work;

*In Alberta, half of Literacy Alberta’s funding is cut, severely compromising its Literacy Help Line, the development and delivery of its Practitioner Certification Program, and its professional development and resources support to practitioners, tutors and learners;

*The Saskatchewan Literacy Network reports it is in immediate jeopardy of closing its doors. This means that supports for the literacy system in Saskatchewan will be eliminated, including practitioner training and conferences, support for research in practice, the Learners’ Speaker Bureau, and a toll-free literacy line with referral service for adult learners;

*In Manitoba, Literacy Partners of Manitoba will lose about 80 per cent of its funding, resulting in the closure of the coalition in the spring of 2007. It will eliminate multiple services to learners in adult and family literacy programs, and to practitioners across the province;

*In Ontario, the development of adult literacy teaching resources, research and professional development will be severely reduced for availability to Aboriginal, Francophone, Deaf and Anglophone adult literacy programs. Family literacy support across the province will be minimal if almost non-existent.

*In Quebec, the Quebec English Literacy Alliance (QELA) in Lachute faces closing, and the operating budget for Regroupement des groupes populaires en alphabétization du Québec (RGPAQ) is effectively cut in half;

*In Nova Scotia, funding for seven major projects has ended, including funds for training for adult learners, and workshops for practitioners to better respond to the needs of learners. The cuts will affect 6,000 Nova Scotians currently in literacy programs as well as 30 per cent of Nova Scotians who do not have a high school diploma;

*The PEI Literacy Alliance is likely to close and with it the successful Summer Tutoring Program for Kids, bursary and scholarship programs for adult learners, workshops for adult educators and leadership for literacy in PEI;

*In Newfoundland and Labrador, the provincial body will only be able to survive on surpluses for about five months. With it will go numerous programs, including its literacy hotline, promotion of family literacy, and its work in initiatives pertaining to workplace learning;

*In Nunavut, all training programs for adult educators and literacy practitioners are gone, most training and support for community-based groups and organizations is gone, all resources to support the delivery of literacy programs to learners are gone, and literacy programming in Nunavut Arctic College is at risk.

ATTENTION MEDIA: Provincial and Territorial Contacts

British Columbia Contact: Jean Rasmussen, Director, Community/ Family Development and Training, Literacy BC, Vancouver, BC: (604) 684-0624; info@literacy.bc.ca

Alberta Contact: Janet Lane, Executive Director, Literacy Alberta, Calgary, AB: (403) 410-6990; jlane@literacyalberta.ca

Saskatchewan Contact: Debbie Griffith, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Literacy Network, Saskatoon, SK: (306) 653-7368; Debbie.griffith@sasktel.net

Manitoba Contact: Lorri Apps, Executive Director, Literacy Partners of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB: (204) 947-5757; apps@mts.net

Ontario Contact: Lesley Brown, Acting Executive Director, Ontario Literacy Coalition, Toronto, ON: (416) 963-5787, ext. 27; Lesley@on.literacy.ca

Quebec Contact: Carolyn Marsh, Project Coordinator, Quebec English Literacy Alliance (QELA), Knowlton, QC: (450) 242-2360; qela@citenet.net

New Brunswick Contact: Jan Greer, Executive Director, The Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB: (506) 457-1227; jangreer@nb.aibn.com

Nova Scotia Contact: Ann Marie Downie, Executive Director, Literacy Nova Scotia, Truro, NS: (902) 897-2444; annmarie.downie@ns.sympatico.ca

Prince Edward Island Contact: Catherine O’Bryan, Executive Director, PEI Literacy Alliance, Charlottetown, PE: (902) 368-3620; peiliteracy.alliance@pei.sympatico.ca

Newfoundland and Labrador Contact: Kimberley Gillard, Executive Director, Literacy Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, NL: (709) 738-7323; kgillard@literacynl.com

Northwest Territories Contact: Cate Sills, Executive Director, NWT Literacy Council, Yellowknife, NT: (867) 873-9262; csills@nwliteracy.ca

Nunavut Contact: Kim Crockatt, Executive Director, Nunavut Literacy Council, Cambridge Bay, NU: (867) 983-2678; kimcr@qiniq.com

Yukon Contact: Sierra van der Meer, Yukon Literacy Coalition, Whitehorse, YT: (867) 668-6535; sierra@northwestel.net