Literacy Action

The OLC's Strategy for Making Literacy a Political Priority

By Sue Folinsbee and Anette Chawla, Acting Co-Executive Directors

Opportunities at the Provincial and Federal Levels

WITH THE ELECTION OF THE NEW LIBERAL government in Ontario comes renewed possibilities for the OLC at the provincial level. In fact, the recent election provides the best opportunity for affecting change the OLC has seen in years. The recent throne speech highlights the government's commitment to community consultation, skills training and education, and improved federal/provincial working relations. This echoes the pre-election answers we got from the Liberal Party in response to questions we sent out to all party leaders. This bodes well for the literacy community. However, in view of the provincial budget deficit, we will need to work hard to make sure that literacy stays on the political agenda and that it stays as more than a labour market development issue.

At the federal level, the development of a pan-Canadian Literacy Strategy also provides us with an opportunity to advance literacy in Ontario. A pan-Canadian literacy strategy requires intergovernmental cooperation and an accord December 2003 Literacy Action The OLC's Strategy for Making Literacy a Political Priority By Sue Folinsbee and Anette Chawla, Acting Co-Executive Directors Opportunities at the Provincial and Federal Levels which ties increased federal funding to improved provincial/territorial literacy delivery. On November 6, 2003 the government released its response to Raising Adult Literacy Skills: The Need for a Pan-Canadian Response. That report was first made public in June 2003 by the parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. We know from the federal government's response that it is going to take time before action is taken on the Committee's recommendations. Furthermore, a whole host of new relationships will need to be built with Paul Martin and his new leadership team.

OLC's Plan for Literacy Action: Provincial Work

The OLC worked hard on pre-election activities. This included creating an OLC election kit, sending written questions to party leaders and writing letters to the editors of newspapers. We shared this work with all our members by e-mail and by posting it on our website.