NDP Questions Cuts To Job Training

NDP Employment critic Cam Broten questioned why the Wall government chose to cut funding from several labour force development programs in their recent budget.

"At a time when 3,800 more people are looking for work, the Wall government chose to cut labour force development programs," Broten said. "These cuts are completely irresponsible and short-sighted."

Broten noted cuts contained in this year's provincial budget included a total of $3.8 million from employment development programs, including cuts to Youth, and Adult Skills Training, Employment Development, and the Aboriginal Employment Development Program.

"The latest statistics show that there are 3,000 fewer Aboriginal people employed and 1,000 fewer young people employed in Saskatchewan," Broten said, "But we've seen cuts to important employment programs that were helping more young people and our growing Aboriginal population participate in our economy."

"There's no doubt that due to the resilience of Saskatchewan workers, our economy remained relatively buoyant throughout the worldwide economic downturn," Broten said. "But if Saskatchewan is to maintain this momentum and attract young, skilled workers into the labour force, cutting these programs is about as short-sighted as it gets."