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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 31, 2010 · 14 Canada 150 participants hope for more caring society By Melanie Cummings SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A survey in which 43 per cent of Canadians said we should care about each other got Heather Donaldson wondering about the negative sentiments of the remaining 57 per cent. She counted herself among 60 people who would fit into the minority Saturday, who are each determined to shape the nation's future by 2017 when Canada will celebrate its 150th birthday. Community leaders plunked themselves at desks in a Sheridan College classroom on Saturday determined to answer the question `How do we care?' -- one of three challenges discussed in a nationwide conference called Canada 150. The Halton conference was one of many satellite events running simultaneously with the Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge conference in Montreal hosted by federal Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff. The local conference was hosted by Halton federal Liberal candidate Deborah Gillis. Panels of experts who attended the afternoon session of the day-long conference at Sheridan also addressed transitioning to a green economy and fostering culture in a digital world. "The vital question of `How do we care?' Halton Liberal Candidate Deborah Gillis becomes moot if we don't have the income and wealth to collectively care at all," said former governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge in a satellite address beamed across the country from Montreal. Productivity is a necessary condition and workers now will have to save more money and retire later than the previous generation. "There is no magical solution," said Dodge. But as discussion ensued during the morning session in Halton, caring for the community encompassed child care, education, retirement planning and job creation. Gillis said the changing demographic of an aging population and an influx of immigration represents an "opportunity" to positively change the region's landscape. Comments from the group expressed wishes to change public attitudes about women at work, the potential of disabled people, saving for retirement and educational opportunities beyond the academic realm. Women are an underutilized resource in the workplace, said Marie Heron, one of the audience participants. She is executive director of a pre-employment program called On-Track and said companies need incentives to hire more women and minorities, especially in the trades. Currently, seven out of 10 part-time jobs are held by women, added Heron. On that score, Nick Hutchins suggests Canada follow the lead of Norway, which legislated gender equality in 1978 and required that all workplaces be composed of 50 per cent women. Progress is evident as more women sit on corporate boards, in government, post-secondary schools and in courts. "Norway's laws prompted an attitude change throughout the rest of the society there," said Hutchins. Closer to home, the successes of Québec are worth replicating in the rest of the coun- Bev Lefrancois, WHAM member try, said Bev Lefrancois, a member of the Women of Halton Action Movement. Largely due to the province's $7-a-day childcare system that began in 1998, Québec's birthrate has increased, enrollment of women in post-secondary schools is higher, as is the percentage of mothers in the workforce, and school test scores have gone from among the lowest to the highest. Also, since greater state support became available through a $1.8 billion childcare program that serves 70 per cent of Québec See Panel page 15