• One Northern community we visited has struck a strategic alliance among Human Resources Development Canada, the City, the School District, the college, the Friendship Centre, and the Chamber of Commerce. After 15 years of effort, graduation rates, postsecondary enrollments, and the numbers of First Nations students are all rising. A learning culture has emerged in the community.

• In Williams Lake, the Cariboo Chilcotin Partners for Literacy include the Cariboo Mental Health Association, the library, the University College of the Cariboo, the Learning Disabled Society, Rotary, Child Care Resource and Referral, First Nations Treatment Centre, the Caribou Chilcotin Community Skills Center, and a local insurance company called Barton Insurance.

• Upper Skeena Development Centre and the community of Hazelton have partnered in an effort to develop a learning community.

• In the South Okanagan area, a number of groups have come together to address literacy and basic skills – including the Okanagan University College Employee Intervention Program (EIP) and Regional Literacy Coordination; the Open Door Centre (employment and career resource centre); Connections (employment counseling and assessment); the Desert Rose Society (for Learning Disabled); the Penticton Public Library; and federal and provincial human resources departments.

• The Columbia River Basin Trust and Kootenay Alliance for Literacy represent diverse alliances across 20 communities in the East and West Kootenays.

• In Port Alberni a number of groups have come together to develop an assessment of the community’s literacy needs and to develop a plan of action to address those needs. These include North Island College, the Port Alberni Friendship Centre, Human Resources Development Canada, School District #70, Alberni-Clayoquot Resource Centre, Port Alberni Community Skills Centre, the Centre for Community Enterprise, Nuu-cha-nulth Tribal Council, Pacifica Papers, BC Ministry of Human Resources, the Alberni-Clayoquot Skills Centre, the Sunshine Club (seniors group), the Port Alberni District Labour Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the City of Port Alberni Parks & Recreation Dept., the Hospital Employees Union, and Weyerhauser.

• Several clusters of School Districts are seeking to achieve “learning communities” in their region. One group has made a proposal to the Ministry of Education and the former Ministry of Advanced Education, Training, and Technology (now the Ministry of Advanced Education) to do so – on the premise that literacy is an economic and social imperative. Literacy is a common theme and issue for all the groups.

Adjusting Our Vision

The following are our reflections on what all of the foregoing implies in terms of future action around literacy and learning in BC:

14) Foster Inter-Ministerial Collaboration on Literacy and Related Issues

Despite the enormity and complexity of the task, we recommend creating a BC Government Standing Committee on Literacy and Related Issues that would promote internal government collaboration across all Ministries for which some aspect of literacy is an issue. Working at a policy and program design level, this Standing Committee would develop a common and integrated approach to literacy and related issues throughout the province so as to streamline the delivery of services, close existing service gaps, and increase overall effectiveness for dollars spent.

15) Promote Inter-Agency Cooperation on Literacy and Related Issues at the Community Level

Alongside this more lofty effort, we recommend promoting inter-agency cooperation on literacy and related issues at the community level in tandem with or as an outcome of developing a comprehensive and integrated communications strategy for literacy and lifelong learning as outlined in Reflections #5 and #6.