York University President Lorna Marsden said “the federal government made the right choices” with money for operating costs, expanded research grants and new scholarships in the new budget, reports the Toronto Star Feb.19. Universities and research bodies quickly applauded Ottawa’s pledge to pump an extra $1.5 billion into research and innovation over three years, including the creation of 4,000 university scholarships for graduate study, said the Star.
Few goodies for middle income Canadians
“The change to individuals’ daily budgets is microscopic. We go into a war and one trip to the gas pump will eat up the benefits,” said Moshe Milevsky, a finance professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, in a Montreal Gazette story Feb. 19 on how little middle income Canadians will benefit from the federal budget.
A career in HR offers rewards
“Human resources is a good career because there are wonderful education programs, the chances are good you will get a job and get paid well, it’s growing, the work is so interesting and there is such a wide range of things a person can do – from employee assistance programs to benefit administration to training and development,” says Monica Belcourt. Belcourt, professor of human resources management at York University’s Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies and the newly-sworn-in president of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario, was quoted in a Toronto Sun story Feb. 19 about how HR has replaced personnel departments.