Conservatives stop funding for learning organization

The federal government will end funding for the Canadian Council on Learning, an organization established by a previous Liberal government to promote lifelong education.

CCL told staff Thursday that it had received notice from Human Resources and Social Development that it would not receive federal support past March 31.

“I can't tell you why they ended our funding because … I'm quite convinced that it's well understood by everybody that this organization is an impartial organization, that it does no advocacy whatsoever,” president and CEO Paul Cappon said in an interview.


CCL was established by the Liberals in 2004 with a five-year grant of $85-million. Last year, the Conservatives allowed the organization to continue operations for another year, but did not provide any new funding. The federal money comprised 95 per cent of CCL's budget.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservatives-stop-funding-for-learning-organization/article1423912/

Because, as Ignatieff says:


'“Cuts to the Council of Learning are incredible to me,” he said. “If you look at the literacy statistics in Canada, one of the dirty secrets, one of the dirty secrets in this wonderful country is how many Canadians don't have full command of literacy and numeracy. And in a recession, this is the worst possible time to cut investment in education. I have been saying that for a year.” '