March 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Member of Parliament for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, on behalf of the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, today announced funding of $338,249 for the Association of Cultural Industries (ACI) in St. John’s.
“Our new government is proud to be working to build a more competitive and productive economy while improving opportunities for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Minister Hearn. “We are funding this project to identify barriers facing highly skilled cultural sector workers and find solutions that support growth and employment in this industry for years to come.”
“Funding for this project will go a long way towards ensuring that labour market issues facing cultural industries in our province are dealt with in a coordinated manner. This project will help local enterprises make the most of business opportunities and encourage the risks necessary to expand their operations,” said the Honourable Shawn Skinner, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment for Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Labour Market Partnerships Program brings together partners throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to meet the human resource needs of its cultural labour market.
These partners recognize that there is a labour market issue, want to address it and are willing to invest time, energy, or resources to work together to do so.
The Cultural Industries Human Resources Labour Market Initiative will research the current state of the cultural workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador. This research will be used to help promote opportunities for the cultural industry in the province.
The Labour Market Partnerships Program allows communities to improve their capacity for dealing with human resource requirements and for implementing labour force adjustments that support long-term job creation. Funding up to a maximum of three years can be provided under the program. The federal government, as represented by Human Resources and Social Development Canada, and the provincial government, as represented by Human Resources, Labour and Employment, are working to help unemployed individuals find employment under the programs and services offered under the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Market Development Agreement.
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This news release is available in alternative formats, on request. Call 1 800 788-8282 on a touch-tone phone, or through a teletypewriter (TTY).
For more information (media only):
Lorne Lambert
Communications, Service Canada
St. John’s
(709) 772-5346
Ed Moriarity
Director of Communications
Human Resources, Labour and Employment
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
(709) 729-4062
Media Relations OfficeService Canada(819) 994-5559
Public Enquiries:
1 800 O-Canada (1 800 622-6232) TTY: 1 800 926-9105servicecanada.gc.ca
Backgrounder
Labour Market Partnerships (LMP) is a Government of Canada program that involves partners addressing a labour market issue. Partners (groups or individuals) recognize that there is a labour market issue, want to address it and are willing to invest time, energy or resources to work together to do so.
A labour market issue is a current or anticipated imbalance between supply (workers) and demand (jobs). Some examples of labour market issues are: industry downsizing; industry upsizing; new development, relocation; impact of new technologies; labour shortages; shortage of year round job opportunities; and lack of community and organizational capacity for human resource planning.
LMP funding is provided to support employers, employee/employer associations and communities in developing and implementing strategies for dealing with labour force adjustments and meeting human resource requirements of employers, community and industrial sectors.
All LMP activities must involve partnership. Within these parameters, LMP may support activities related to human resource planning and labour force adjustment. These include: research, development of human resource strategies, promotion of beneficial human resource and adjustment practices, coordination of community-based approaches to addressing labour market issues, short-term adjustment services for workers facing lay-off, and development of community economic (employment) development plans.
Eligible recipients include businesses, including federal crown corporations and comparable provincial/territorial crown corporations, organizations (including not-for-profit), educational institutions, municipal governments and band/tribal councils.