Pioneering programs show the power of learning from coast to coast

Below is an excerpt from “A Tale of Two Cities,” an article about workplace-education programs in Vancouver and Moncton that appears in the second issue of Canadian CEO. If you would like to receive a copy of the full article for reprint in a newspaper or newsletter, please contact ABC CANADA by e-mail at info@abc-canada.org, or find out how to subscribe to Canadian CEO.

Larry Campbell
Mayor of Vancouver

Their constituencies are thousands of kilometers apart on opposite sides of the country, but when they took office, both Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell and Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton were quick studies when assessing their municipalities’ workplace-education programs. Advocates from the outset, time has only deepened their commitment to the programs as a low-risk investment providing healthy returns, both to the workplace and to the greater community. “It all fits in together if you’re looking at a win-win for your employee and the customer, the taxpayer,” says Campbell.

Lorne Mitton
Mayor of Moncton

The idea of extending that philosophy to the workplace made perfect sense to Campbell, already a champion of literacy in the wider Vancouver community, when he became mayor in 2002. “There’s no question that it would be beneficial to any employee group and city, simply because it makes your employee better,” he says. “If someone’s struggling with language or literacy, life is not enjoyable. If we can make it easier, it changes their whole life, and that’s got to translate to how they do their jobs.”

Mitton became acquainted with Moncton’s Workplace Education Program as a city councilor in 1998, when he came across it as a new budget item. Curious, he did a little digging, and ended up one June day at a graduation ceremony. “What I saw was quite remarkable, really,” he recalls. It seemed that everyone was beaming — the participants, their family members and the teachers, all of them delighted at what the employees had accomplished. Mitton was hooked. “Giving people the ability to improve themselves, no matter what level they’re at, gives them spirit and improves morale. And that can only be good for them, and by extension, for the City of Moncton.”