HRDC may get the ax

Liberal leader Paul Martin is considering the elimination of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), a department with historically close links to the plastics industry. The break up of HRDC is part of a vast revamping of the federal government planned by the Martin-led government, according to a report in the National Post. The HRDC was implicated in the questionable spending of 1$ billion by an audit conducted in 2000.
The HRDC has worked with the Canadian Plastics Industry Association and other groups in the formation of a Plastics Sector Council. One goal of the Sector Council has been to create a set of training and occupational standards for the plastics industry. The effect the elimination of the HRDC will have on these and other initiatives in the plastics industry is unknown. According to the news report, all social policy functions that fall under HRDC will become part of a new, presently unnamed department.