The concept was quickly endorsed by the State Duma's Committee for Social Protection, and supported by the Russian Federation of Trade Unions. Because of their prior involvement in labour market projects funded by the World Bank and Gorbachev Foundation respectively, HRDC and Carleton University recognized the gravity of the situation in Russia and the potential of this project to address it. They therefore responded positively to the request. Justification Russia's market reforms will only succeed if industrial restructuring is accompanied and supported by an effective strategy which will lead towards the adaptation, retraining and reallocation of its labour force.
Current measures are incoherent and inadequate, and often aggravate the problem.
In this context, a coordinated response to deal with the problem is clearly needed. Such a response requires federal, regional, and local authority co-operation with trade unions and employers, to create policies and programs capable of building confidence and trust, and of persuading governments, workers and employers to invest in the acquisition and development of skills. Like Russia, Canada is a geographically immense, federal state. Canada too struggles with the economic and social problems caused by significant regional disparities resulting in labour market dislocation and an uneven distribution of unemployment. However, Canada is characterized by its ability to bring compromise and build consensus in the labour market and other policy areas.