March 18, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario

NEWS RELEASE

Prime Minister Paul Martin announced today the renewed mandate of the Task Force on Seasonal Work. The Task Force will evaluate the challenges born by seasonal industries while looking into the needs of workers and communities that depend on them and provide advice on areas for possible action in the future.

“This government places great importance on hearing from those lives that are directly impacted by our policies, including our seasonal workers. Our Caucus has been extremely active in making the sector’s opinions known, and will continue to play an important role in further examining those views,” said Prime Minister Paul Martin.

“We are facing particularly challenging times in one of our economy’s strongest sectors and I look forward to working in collaboration with Parliamentarians and all Canadians to find solutions.”

The Task Force will examine;

• the specific needs of seasonal industries and workers in the area of skills development, life-long learning, and literacy;
  
  
• ways to promote greater economic diversity and stronger local economies, particularly in rural and remote communities across Canada;
  
  
• the support required to help seasonal work dependent communities to adapt to seize opportunities provided by the new knowledge-based global economy;
  
  
• ways of lowering barriers to regional and interprovincial labour mobility;
  
  
• how to align income support programs such as Employment Insurance and Provincial Social Assistance Programs to improve income support, while also promoting full, year-round participation in the labour force;
  
  
• ways of addressing the challenges and opportunities offered by temporary foreign workers;
  
  
• the potential role for government in encouraging new approaches to community development, i.e. the `social economy` ;
  
  
• an assessment of the opportunities and challenges specific to seasonal economies in promoting the safeguard of our natural environment;