Finance Committee on Sept. 30th, 2014

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

You also pointed out that, according to the study, every $100 Quebec invested in this system's development generated $104. That means the program is well balanced, so its impact is a positive one on the whole.

The federal government receives $43 for a program it did not invest any money in. It would be really worthwhile to see what the impacts could be if the federal government were to also start investing in a national child care system.

You also talked about—and I thought this was really interesting, or at least intellectually stimulating—the creation of a single child benefit that would mainly be funded through the Universal Child Care Benefit, UCCB, but also through the child tax benefit and children's fitness tax credits.

In your brief, you pointed out that those tax credits are two aggressive measures. Can you explain to us why that is?

[Ann Decter]

They are aggressive measures in a tax sense. They benefit people in a higher tax bracket rather than people in a lower tax bracket. The national child benefit is means-assessed, if you want to say it that way. So it gives the most benefit to the most vulnerable, rather than being something universal.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

You are basically saying that such non-refundable tax credits are not accessible to low-income families. Is that correct?

[Ann Decter]

That's right. You have to have a taxable income to benefit from them. I like them fine personally, but they are not a progressive tax.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

We just talked about the child care system. Yet the government demonstrated its opposition to such a system by creating the Universal Child Care Benefit.

In your opinion, does the Universal Child Care Benefit provide advantages similar to those of a child care system?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Nathan Cullen]

Could we have a very brief answer, Ms. Decter, as we have just a few seconds left?

[Ann Decter]

Is that from a national child care system? I'm not getting a good translation here.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

I would like you to compare a child care system to the government's response—the implementation of the Universal Child Care Benefit, UCCB.

[Ann Decter]

A national child benefit is simply a dollar amount that can be spent on anything. We're not saying to choose one or the other. I think you should maintain the national child benefit for families that are in need, and we need low-cost child care that is accessible across the country.

It's similar to a public education system. There was a time when we wondered about public education and whether everyone should go to school, and all those things. We are long past that time now with regard to early learning and child care. The demographics of the country, the behaviour of women, what families are made of, and how they work have changed dramatically over the last 30 to 40 years, and we are sitting back in 1970.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Nathan Cullen]

Thank you, Ms. Decter.

Thank you, Mr. Caron.

Mr. Allen, go ahead, please, for up to five minutes.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

The testimony of family caregivers is compelling and always striking, which I think Mr. Cullen mentioned before. Having had my mum look after my father with dementia and my sister with multiple sclerosis and then being looked after as an Alzheimer's patient herself, I know the incredible family effort that goes into this, and so my heart goes out to you. Thank you for those comments today.

A number of my colleagues have asked questions regarding those areas, so for now I want to focus on Mr. Carr and Ms. Jamieson.

Mr. Carr, you talked about some of your internships turning into actual entrepreneurship. Do you have the percentage of your interns that actually do turn into entrepreneurs? Would you see that continuing when you look at your 10,000 internships by 2020?

[Dr. Graham Carr]

Yes. The statistics show that about 14% of interns have actually started their own companies, which is a pretty high success rate. I would anticipate that with the growth of the program, that number would increase.

One of the things I see in the university context right now is that many more students generally have an entrepreneurial outlook than may have been the case when I was a graduate student, and they are coming from all fields. That's entrepreneurial in the classic business sense, and it's also socially entrepreneurial.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

You talked in your brief a little bit about the Canada first research excellence fund. You also talked a little bit about the increased funding to the Canada Foundation for Innovation. I didn't necessarily see an amount in there. Have you defined an amount for what you think that investment is going to require, and how is your organization going to ensure that the research and development skyrocket from these funds?

[Dr. Graham Carr]

Mr. Allen, I have to be clear that I'm here as a university partner for Mitacs, so I'm speaking on behalf of the university partners. The brief itself was prepared by Mitacs, so it would be best to refer that question on the dollar amount directly to them. I would say, though, from the perspective of universities, that investment in CFI, investment in infrastructure, is something that research in universities across the country would certainly welcome.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Okay.

Mr. Chair, would we mind having that request made to Mitacs as to what—

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Nathan Cullen]

Absolutely.

Just so panellists understand, the committee can seek additional information from you after your testimony, which is obviously abbreviated today.

You have just a little over two minutes, Mr. Allen.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Jamieson, I'd like to move to you for a minute. You said that you're only funded 26% of what's needed and that you need more. I guess success in the program would breed success.

I would just like to understand this. You talked about your industry in the classroom. It sounds very intriguing to me, because as part of our youth employment study we talked about how we can get young people focusing on the trades and working in industry as good things. Can you talk a little bit more about how industry in the classroom works and how you're able to leverage the $10 million in federal funding into other funding?

[Chief Roberta Jamieson]

Thank you very much for the question.

The Industry in the Classroom program creates teaching modules that showcase aboriginal people in various careers. For mining, it's completely funded by Vale Inco. They featured indigenous people in the jobs that are offered in the mining sector. We all think there's one job and you put on your hat with the light and you go down, but there are many, many, many jobs. We take them into the classroom and motivate students.

It's key that our kids see our own people in the roles. They play games and they learn that they bring to the table resources, that they're good listeners, and that they're team players. They start with something and can aspire to something, and then there's support to get them there. Mining, broadcasting, the justice field, and the railway: we have a number of them on the go. They're very important motivational tools.

We also have conferences where we bring the students together. It might be the first time in their lives that they feel like they're part of a critical mass of kids who are going to finish high school and go on.

These are powerful, powerful tools, and there is much more to be done. We are working on the energy sector, and there are many more that should be done.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Nathan Cullen]

Thank you, Mr. Allen.

Thanks, Ms. Jamieson.

Mr. Rankin, please, for up to five minutes.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks to all of you for coming.

I have a very limited amount of time, so if I may, I'd like to begin with Ms. Jamieson of Indspire.

I'm a big fan of the work you do. This afternoon you trotted out those statistics about how many students graduate and how many students got employment, and I guess I want to give you the opportunity to tell us how you did that. What are the ingredients of your success?

[Chief Roberta Jamieson]

Well, it's the students themselves feeling motivated. We stay in touch with them. We follow their careers. We monitor and track their progress. We try to ensure that they have access to educational institutions. We're working with the AUCC, from whom you're going to hear this afternoon, on how they can change colleges and universities to be places that retain students. So we work with students, but we work also with the institutions they're going into so they will succeed.

If I may refer to the 300 comment that was made earlier on Ph.D.s, that's since we started, and 82% of our kids in this survey are employed, so they're not sitting around with degrees. Last year alone, we supported 167 in the business sector, 161 med students, and 342 nursing students. We need to have a few lawyers, so of course we have 164 of those—

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

No, let's not go to the lawyers, please.

[Chief Roberta Jamieson]

I'm a lawyer.