NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 830-799/004

Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers responsible for Social Services
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories - August 26, 2003

Meeting of Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible
for Social Services Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, August 26, 2003

Yellowknife, August 26, 2003 – Today, Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services met in Yellowknife and reviewed their accomplishments and progress towards common priorities in the areas of persons with disabilities, early childhood development, quality child care and child poverty.¹

Ministers reached agreement in principle on a new Multilateral Framework to succeed the Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD) initiative, which aims to support the employment situation of persons with disabilities. Ministers will work to resolve outstanding technical issues relating to funding and reporting arrangements prior to negotiating bilateral agreements under the Multilateral Framework. The bilateral agreements are scheduled to come into effect on April 1, 2004.

Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to work towards ensuring that persons with disabilities can participate successfully in the labour market and be fully included in all aspects of Canadian society.

“Today’s meeting marks a step forward in how we work together as governments to address the labour market issues facing Canadians with disabilities,” Minister Stewart said. “We will be focussing our energies on supporting the participation of people with disabilities and on reporting to Canadians on our progress.”

Minister Miltenberger noted that the Multilateral Framework will provide a new opportunity for all governments, including the territorial governments, to work together under more flexible arrangements. "While the territories have not been part of the EAPD initiative, we hope that the new Multilateral Framework will provide an opportunity to resolve issues so that we can be included as partners under the Multilateral Framework,” Minister Miltenberger stated.

Social Services Ministers also discussed their progress in implementing the commitment of First Ministers to improve and expand early childhood development programs and services. Canada's First Ministers made this commitment at their September 2000 meeting and this initiative is now in its third year of implementation. Governments continue to make innovative investments in their communities through this initiative and will be reporting on their progress in fall 2003.

Ministers renewed their commitment to move quickly to implement the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care. This initiative was approved in March 2003, with $900 million over five years provided to provincial and territorial governments by the Government of Canada for early learning and child care. Governments will determine the best way to use the funding to improve access to affordable, quality, provincially/territorially regulated early learning and child care programs and services in their communities.

Ministers Responsible for Social Services took this opportunity to recognize the success of the National Child Benefit (NCB) initiative. For the first time, the recently released National Child Benefit Progress Report 2002, demonstrated that the NCB is making progress towards meeting all three of its goals: reducing child poverty; supporting labour force attachment; and reducing administrative overlap and duplication.

Ministers Responsible for Social Services also acknowledged the significant new federal investment in the National Child Benefit Supplement announced in the 2003 federal Budget. The total increase will reach $965 million annually by 2007. The Canada Child Tax Benefit and the NCB Supplement combined exceeds $2,500 per child annually. This benefit level reaches a milestone that Premiers identified in 1999, which, at that time, was estimated to be an amount sufficient to remove children from social assistance in many jurisdictions. Taken together with the benefits and services for low income families with children provided by provinces, territories and First Nations, Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to a balanced approach of income supports and in-kind benefits as key to the success of the NCB.

Governments recognize that more needs to done to address child poverty in Canada. Ministers are committed to building on the successes of the NCB to help improve the lives of Canadian children.

Prior to their regular meeting, Ministers met with the leaders of Canada’s National Aboriginal Organizations to explore issues and challenges facing Aboriginal people in the social services sector.

For more information, refer to www.socialunion.gc.ca

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¹Not being a signatory of the Social Union Framework Agreement, the Quebec government does not adhere to the ensuing federal-provincial-territorial initiatives. During the meeting, however, Quebec reiterated that it subscribes to the underlying principles to these initiatives and contributes to their success by sharing information and best practices with other governments. With respect to the new Multilateral Framework for Persons with Disabilities, Quebec stated that it was satisfied with the existing model of agreement for persons with disabilities and has indicated its desire to continue with this model. Consequently, it favors an approach whereby different models can co-exist and the choice of each government is respected.

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For more information:

Megan Holsapple Department of Health and Social Services Government of the Northwest Territories Tel: (867) 873-7066

Andrew Graham Human Resources Development Canada Tel: (819) 994-2482

 

 

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