The time to cut a program is when it鈥檚 no longer effective or is no longer needed. Neither of those conditions applies to the Pathway Project, a work and life-skills program for at-risk youth. The Langford-based program is closing after the federal government cut its funding.
The program was aimed at people between the ages of 15 and 30 who are unemployed and not in school. They were paid minimum wage as they went through the 16-week program that aimed to build their skills and confidence. To enhance their employment prospects, they earned certification in customer service, first aid and the FoodSafe course.
In its 13 years of operation, the project has served 49 classes, and has always had more applicants than it could accommodate.
This was not a mere employment agency 鈥� it turned lives around, say those who went through the program.
鈥淚t was a link for all kinds of services, navigating health care, housing, counselling,鈥� said Randy Waldie, who has co-ordinated the program for the past eight years. The staff and clients at the centre developed strong bonds that helped bolster confidence and gave stability to lives that had been shaky.
The program served a sector of the population that tends to fall through the cracks. Kids who leave school early, for example, too often wend their way toward adulthood without guidance and without the skills to cope with the challenges of daily life. Instead of becoming productive citizens with satisfying lives, many become dependent on social programs or live on the streets.
Being jobless, especially among the young and unskilled, tends to become self-perpetuating, and unemployed, after too much time has passed, becomes unemployable.
The Pathway Project worked to turn self-defeat into self-reliance, essential steps in being prepared for and securing that important first job, or getting back into school.
Each person with a job is one more person paying taxes and participating in society, and one less person drawing employment insurance or social assistance. If the lives of only one or two people were turned around by the project each year, it was worth the program鈥檚 $200,000 annual budget, considering the impact over a lifetime.
But it was more successful than that, say those who watched the program.
鈥淭his is a positive program. It鈥檚 proven that it works,鈥� said Langford Coun. Lillian Szpak. 鈥淭his is so sad.鈥�
Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan and Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Randall Garrison have also been supporters of the program and are critical of the funding cut that closed its doors.
One of the most important messages sent to those who participated in the program was that they mattered, that they were worthwhile members of society.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government are keen to develop the country鈥檚 natural resources, but in cutting funding for the Pathway Project, they appear to overlook the notion that a country鈥檚 most important resource is its people. Creating more jobs is important; preparing people to take those jobs is even more important.
The Harper government needs to recognize that the country鈥檚 valuable resources are more than stuff you dig out of the ground.
