How to train next generations to lead in the clinch: We can't compete globally if we shortchange schools
JIM SINCLAIR, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour
Globe and Mail
Aug. 13, 2009

We've heard a lot in the past few months about economic stimulus, infrastructure spending and shovel-ready projects.  Almost entirely absent from the discussion has been an equally important investment we also must make.

To build a new, sustainable economy, one thing is clear: Our most important asset is our people, and for our people to flourish, we must invest in human infrastructure.

This begins at an early age. Canada lags far behind other industrialized nations in early childhood education.

Quality childcare is not only good for children and their families, it is also a crucial building block for our economy.

This early investment in our young people pays dividends throughout their lifetimes.

We will find ourselves increasingly unable to compete with other nations if we continue to shortchange our elementary and high schools. We cannot build a new economy if our classrooms are overcrowded, our teachers overloaded, and students forced to share textbooks and outdated computers.

By 2015, three out of every four new jobs will require some post-secondary education.

However, in the past eight years, tuition in B.C. has skyrocketed 90 per cent.

Where once we had graduates with the smallest student-loan debts in the country, today B.C. students graduate with some of the highest debts.

That financial barrier is keeping more and more people out of our colleges and universities at the exact time we need them to train or retrain for the new economy….

Why can't B.C., one of the wealthiest places on Earth, train our own skilled work force?

As the B.C. Auditor-General reported last year, the Gordon Campbell government destroyed the apprenticeship system, ignored the problem for two years, and replaced it with a poorly designed system.

We need to rebuild the apprenticeship system in full consultation with unions.

We also need to better integrate immigrants and fully utilize the skills and energy they bring to our country….There will be people and politicians who say we can't afford to spend the money.

In B.C., the Campbell government's tax cuts slashed about $4-billion per year from provincial revenue.

By reducing the GST from 7 per cent to 5 per cent for politically self-serving reasons, Prime Minister Stephen Harper eliminated about $10-billion in annual revenue.

These tax cuts provided dubious benefits to our economy and our competitiveness.

Investing in a new, sustainable economy, built on a well-trained work force, would go a long way towards making us competitive in the new global economy.

The truth is, we can't afford not to make this investment.