US Firms May Scoop Fed Funds Handed To BC

"They're making money on the backs of the poorest people in the province, which we don't think is the right way to go," said Jagrup Brar, the NDP's employment and income assistance critic. "We want to make sure the money's dedicated to helping people find employment." When it goes to a private contractor, he said, it is hard to know how much is used to actually help people and how much goes to profit. Large bags of cash At a Vancouver press conference on Feb. 20, Solberg publicly signed two agreements that will give B.C. $366 million a year to spend on job programs. The bulk of that, $300 million a year, is to take over programs the federal government now provides through Service Canada for people who are receiving employment insurance. The provinces and territories are better placed to deliver job programs, Solberg told The Tyee in a phone interview. "They're closer to a lot of these issues," he said. "I'm pretty comfortable letting individual provinces decide what the best way is to serve the people they represent. Ultimately they are accountable to the electorate at election time." The federal government will continue to monitor results, he said. "Frankly, my interest is the results that we get. I'm not as interested in the methods." If a province chooses to contract to an international company that specializes in moving people into employment, and the company gets good results, that's great. "It doesn't particularly bother me where they call home." B.C. ministers for economic development, Colin Hansen, and employment and income assistance, Claude Richmond, joined Solberg for the announcement. Neither was available for an interview. ... http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/02/25/JobSkillMoney/

Note: http://thetyee.ca/News/...