US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA523

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000523 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/ILAB-BRUMFIELD, LABOR FOR ILAB-SHEPARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, CA, Lucienne Robillard, Labor 
SUBJECT: CANADA: LABOR MINISTERS MEETING - LONDON, MARCH 
10-11 
 
REF: STATE 026878 
 
1.  Canada intends for Minister of Human Resources and Skills 
Development, Lucienne Robillard, to lead the GoC delegation 
to the March 10-11 G-8 Labor Ministers' Meeting in London. 
Robillard was assigned this Ministerial role in mid-January. 
In addition she is also President of the Queen's Privy 
Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Under the 
previous government, Ms. Robillard served as Minister of 
Industry and Minister responsible for the Economic 
Development Agency of Canada for Quebec.  In 1999, she was 
placed in charge of Canada's preparations for Y2K, where she 
earned a reputation for competence, hard work and party 
loyalty.  Minister Robillard is a native of Quebec and is a 
French speaker. While she can and does hold meetings in 
English, her less than fluent style can be a distraction. 
 
2.   Ms. Robillard's office has not formally asked for a 
bilateral meeting with Secretary Chao, but informally post 
was told that the Minister looked forward to meeting the 
Secretary.  (Comment: Given the "minority" status in 
 
SIPDIS 
Parliament of the governing Liberal party, which puts the 
government in a difficult political position, all members of 
the Caucus have been kept on a short leash during the current 
parliamentary session.  Though no particularly sensitive 
votes are scheduled for the second week of March, unexpected 
political developments and/or the fact that Parliament will 
adjourn the following week for traditional school "spring 
break," could generate activity that might require the 
presence of all party faithful in Ottawa.  Post was told on 
February 17 that to date no remarks or papers have been 
prepared for Robillard's use in London.  We will monitor the 
situation and advise as appropriate. End Comment.) 
 
3.  In the meantime, Canada's Director for Human Resources 
and Skills Development, Intergovernmental Relations branch, 
Louise Galarneau told poloff on February 14 that Canada wants 
to use the G-8 meeting as a platform from which member states 
can quote look broadly at the labor-market relationship and 
perhaps begin a process of strategy development that can ease 
projected negative social impacts brought on by an aging 
labor force unquote.  She said that Canada wants to take a 
human capital development approach as the means to best 
insure the availability of a qualified labor force even 
though absolute numbers are expected to drop. When asked how 
Canada would do this, Galarneau stated that her Minster wants 
to encourage Canadians who up to now have been 
under-represented in the nation's labor force (i.e., persons 
with disabilities, aboriginals, single parents) to develop 
skills and become more productive.  She stressed that 
Canada's aim is to quote aim to heighten the quality of the 
labor force, not the quantity, and by doing so Canada's 
productivity will increase and the nation's standard of 
living will be maintained unquote.  When asked for specifics, 
Galarneau stated that the Canadian Government must take a 
stronger and more involved role in the development and 
protection of Canada's workforce, particularly when members 
are undergoing quote life transitions unquote.  She described 
life transitions as childbirth/maternity leave issues, first 
time employment needs, and reentry into the workforce after 
prolong absences. 
 
4.  Overall, Canada's labor market is strong. According to 
Statistics Canada on January 2 2005, in 2004 Canada's 
population of 32 million people produced a labor force of a 
little over 17 million individuals, and of these 15.9 million 
or 62.7 percent were employed and 1.2 million or 7.2 percent 
were unemployed.  (Some 8.2 million Canadians were identified 
as not in the labor force.)   Unemployment fell from an 
October 2003 figure of 7.6 percent. Canada's real GDP rose by 
0.2 percent in 2004 with a December 2004 inflation rate of 
2.1 percent. 
 
5.   The Department of Labor may wish to draw upon the 
following points should the Secretary and Minister Robillard 
have an opportunity for a bilateral conversation. 
 
--  Congratulations on your appointment as Minister of Human 
Resources and Skills Development (January 17, 2005).  I look 
forward to working with you here at the G-8 and at other 
fora. 
 
--  With our overall economies linked to each other to the 
degree that they are, it is no surprise that Canada and the 
United States have common cause in "Meeting the Challenge of 
Demographic Change". (Note: Daily trade between the US and 
Canada is well over USD 1 billion a day, and trade in goods, 
services and investment income reached almost USD 500 billion 
in 2994. Canada exports 86 percent of its goods to the United 
States. Sectors such as the automotive and cattle industries 
are almost completely integrated.) 
 
--  Our economic prosperity and high standard of living, like 
yours, is dependent upon the continued growth of our markets, 
industries and productivity.  At the core are our people -- 
our workers and their competitiveness in the world market. 
 
--  I understand that Canada is developing a National Human 
Capital Strategy to assess the impact Canada's aging 
population will have on the workforce.  I would welcome the 
opportunity to discuss your strategy in more detail. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
CELLUCCI