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Key budget themes for Morneau: helping women, science, preparing workers

Bill Morneau says the federal government’s spring budget will focus on improving the economic success of women, finding ways for science to help the economy over the long haul and preparing workers for the rapidly changing job market.
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Bill Morneau says the federal government’s spring budget will focus on improving the economic success of women, finding ways for science to help the economy over the long haul and preparing workers for the rapidly changing job market.

The finance minister tells The Canadian Press that a central theme of the budget will be raising the workforce participation of women.

Morneau says making it easier for women to play a bigger role in the job market will not only help families, it will also boost the country’s economic growth.

He says he pushed his provincial counterparts at a recent finance ministers’ meeting to follow this kind of gender-based budgeting approach — and he believes the idea is getting some traction in the provinces.

Morneau says another key element under examination ahead of the budget is how science can play a role in building a solid economic foundation over the long term.

He says the budget will also contain steps to ensure people have the skills for jobs of the future — especially with so many technological changes like automation on the horizon.