Premier Shawn Graham announced this week that he has appointed James Hughes as Deputy Minister of Social Development.

At first blush, one might yawn and say so what, who is James Hughes? For the record, Hughes is currently the Director General of the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal. I think he is one of the most significant appointments the Premier has made to this date.

Hughes will assume his new duties on March 31, 2008. Coincidental with his appointment, legislation will be introduced to change the name and mandate of the old Department of Family and Community Services to the Department of Social Development. Again, one might offer a big yawn but hold on, “development” is a lot more positive than the notion of social service-delivery.

The delivery of social services is a necessary and good thing but the perpetuation of such delivery is not. It’s time to break the cycle of poverty and dependency that exists in New Brunswick and indeed in many communities across Canada. There is only one way to break that cycle and that is with an infusion of education, training and some form of economic development that creates opportunity.

James Hughes has established a reputation as a dedicated professional and advocate for the homeless in Montreal and Quebec. Premier Graham is committed to the notion of a self-sufficient New Brunswick.

The fluently bilingual Hughes, put aside his legal career a few years ago to work in the community-services sector. Prior to joining the Old Brewery Mission, he was the founder and President of Youth Employment Services in Montreal and spent two years as Executive Director of EPOC Montreal, a training organization for young adults on social assistance who have not completed their basic education.

As head of the Old Brewery Mission, Hughes helped transform the way the mission works with homeless people in the city.

Education is the best way to break the cycle of poverty and dependence. Advancing computer and digital literacy to improve access to education, training and self-improvement is one way to move the ball forward.

I’m not immediately familiar with Mr. Hughes’ mandate but as I understand it, he will be advancing programs that recognize the value of education, training and self-improvement, particularly in respect to those who are marginalized and/or under-utilized in society.

We need to ensure that everyone in New Brunswick has an opportunity to improve their skills and their education to equip them for life in the new digital society. We need to start with basic literacy competence and then move to the training tools that enable people to use a computer and access the internet. Literacy and computer aptitude are essential in today’s economy.

People without these skills are limited in their employment prospects and more likely to become dependent on social services. We need to pay special attention to those who need help in developing a comfort level with computers and the skills necessary to access them.

The primary objective of the new Department of Social Development should be to replace poverty with education. Programs should help students, seniors, single moms and dads, the unemployed, aboriginals, new Canadians and others to gain the confidence and ability to operate computer programs, access e-mail, search the internet for information and acquire the skills that will assist them in finding a more positive future.

The Department of Social Development should be developing programs that focus on disadvantaged groups with special needs such as our unemployed youth, seniors, displaced forestry workers, seasonal workers, the under-educated, disabled people, long-term care-givers returning to work, first nations people who are isolated from the mainstream workforce and others who with some degree of up-skilling, could become more proficient members of the workforce and contributing members of society.

The new Department and its Deputy Minister should have a mandate to focus on people in need while transforming its service-delivery model from "welfare" to rehabilitation. In simple terms, that means it’s time to get people off welfare and into the workforce.

We must engage and empower these people to actively participate in improving their quality of life and self-reliance. If we can engage the most vulnerable New Brunswickers, we will build a more self-sufficient province and a more caring society.

A co-ordinated and proactive approach to reducing poverty offers the best chance for success. Soup kitchens, homeless shelters and welfare programs may be necessary but they are not solutions to the underlying reasons for poverty.

“Transformational change” demands that we engage the poor and unemployed and help them to escape from their circumstance. In so doing, we will advance the cause of self-sufficiency in New Brunswick.

W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at mailto:bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com