House of Commons Hansard #74 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.

Topics

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Tina Keeper Liberal Churchill, MB

Mr. Chair, it is passing strange that the minister recently spent $3,000 to fly to Winnipeg, Manitoba for a symbolic $100 cheque presentation, which, I might add, would have covered 30 universal child care benefit payments.

In my riding of Churchill, Manitoba, dozens of communities, including first nations, towns and cities, have lost child care spaces and have no indication or consultation that there may be support forthcoming for child care spaces after March 31, 2007.

They maintain that early learning and child care spaces, which currently are available, will not be available after March 31, 2007. Why did she not make the announcement here in Ottawa and spend the $3,000 consulting with even one of the groups that provides early learning and child care in rural Manitoba?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, between myself, my officials, my department and the ministerial advisory committee, we are consulting with Canadians right across the country on how best to design the incentives to create the new child care spaces, the ones that the Liberals promised for 13 years but, oops, did not deliver. We are working on that.

Quite frankly, when we presented that symbolic cheque that was to ensure parents knew this program was available to them.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Tina Keeper Liberal Churchill, MB

Mr. Chair, the people in my riding relied on the national child care strategy to build spaces.

On the pressing matter of the precarious feature of the early learning and child care spaces, the minister cannot tell us how the government proposes to address the tax credit proposal to build child care spaces within first nations that have a different tax environment and are the fasting growing demographic in the country.

The minister has identified that a ministerial advisory committee exists to examine the development of child care spaces. Would the minister tell us how many members of that committee are first nations?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, we do not do racial profiling when we put together a committee. What we do is we engage experts who have a compassion within the subject area.

The hon. members may want to listen to what I am about to say. We have also consulted with aboriginal Canadians in regional meetings. We have had two meetings with the AFN. My officials launched aboriginal specific consultations two weeks ago to ensure we understood their needs and try to find the best way to meet those needs.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Tina Keeper Liberal Churchill, MB

Mr. Chair, it would be nice to get an answer.

The Manitoba-Canada labour market partnership agreement was a valuable resource for the people in my riding as well. It was designed to address current and emerging labour market challenges and to create an inclusive labour market. It meant $129 million over five years in Manitoba.

For youth at risk, aboriginal youth, who had programs to develop literacy skills and essential skills that would give them the opportunity to step into the labour force, the loss of their programs is devastating.

Would the minister explain why she has not honoured this agreement?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, as I explained to the hon. member's colleagues a little while ago, the discussions about those agreements are resting right now within the department of the Minister of Finance. They will be discussed and are being discussed in the context of the fiscal balance. I am sure those arrangements will be made as soon as possible.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Chan Liberal Richmond, BC

Mr. Chair, does the minister remember that during the campaign seniors issues were a big thing in the Conservative Party's platform? Does the minister remember that item in her party's platform?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, I am not sure I understand the question as to whether I remember a specific item or another item.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Chan Liberal Richmond, BC

Mr. Chair, the minister does not remember one thing in the campaign platform that supports seniors during the campaign. I can understand that.

I want to remind the minister that during the campaign the Conservative Party said that it would support seniors. What did it do? It eliminated the secretary of state for seniors and denied seniors a seat at the cabinet table. Is that how the minister's government supports seniors?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, one thing we did commit to in our platform, another promise made another promise kept, is the creation of a seniors council to ensure that the interests of seniors are not only recognized, but respected. We will be drawing on that and making an announcement on that in the future. I can assure the hon. member that seniors are important to us. That is why we are doing this. That is why we gave them the tax relief yesterday.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Chan Liberal Richmond, BC

Mr. Chair, I would like to remind the minister that under that platform was a promise to seniors that the government would not add tax to the income trust. The Conservatives have just broken that promise. I would like to ask the minister, did she object when the cabinet talked about this issue?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, the hon. member is asking me to breach the confidentiality of cabinet. I am sorry but I am not prepared to do that.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Chan Liberal Richmond, BC

Mr. Chair, since the minister did not object to the added tax on the income trust, I would like to ask her something that she claimed to know. She said she would develop the seniors council. How much money has been allocated to that seniors council and when will she establish that council?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, that money will be coming from existing resources within the department.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL

Mr. Chair, the minister said that the miserable Conservative price of a cup of coffee cuts will not have any impact on literacy programs at the grassroots level. How can the minister square this statement with the fact that partners in learning is a Labradorian's right?

The Port Hope Simpson learning centre along the coast of Labrador, with at least eight other literacy organizations across Labrador, is closing its doors. Does the minister even know what impacts the cuts are having on literacy programs?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, literacy and getting people to read, making sure they can read, write and count is important to us. It is a fundamental thing for creating a society where we have people who can be gainfully employed. We are honouring all existing commitments so that any programs--

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Bill Blaikie

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. minister, the hon. member for Richmond.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Chan Liberal Richmond, BC

Mr. Chair, I am really disappointed that, after 10 months in her job, the minister does not remember a damned thing about this issue. The Conservatives do not remember a thing about a tax on seniors and they did not do anything about it. The only thing the minister remembers is the seniors council. She does not know how much will be allocated to it and she does not know when it will be established. I am very disappointed by her performance.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

I am sorry, Mr. Chair, I could not hear the questions because of the noise. Can I ask the hon. member to repeat the question, please?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Chan Liberal Richmond, BC

Certainly, Mr. Chair. I am very disappointed that the minister, after 10 months in her job, does not know about a single item that the Conservatives promised during the campaign for seniors. The only thing that she remembers is the seniors council. She does not know how much money she is allocating for that and she does not know when it will be established.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Chair, regarding the seniors council, we are not creating a whole new department to do this. This will be based on volunteers. We are meeting with people now to see who will be involved. The fact that I am not announcing it yet is simply because we are not ready to make an announcement yet. The government has a habit of announcing things when they are done, not when we are only planning to do them.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB

Mr. Chair, I will ask a short question regarding employment insurance.

If it is true that the minister wants to help seasonal workers, is she prepared to support my bill to eliminate the two-week waiting period in order to give seasonal workers a sense of pride and a chance to survive?

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

11 p.m.

Conservative

Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Actually, Mr. Chair, we are of the opinion, as the member opposite was, at least a while ago, that we needed to have a two week waiting period. In fact, I would like to read a quick quote, “The two week waiting period is like a deductible in an insurance program; it is there for a purpose”. The person who said that was the former minister of human resources, Jane Stewart.

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

11 p.m.

Conservative

Gerald Keddy Conservative South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to take part in tonight's discussion in committee of the whole. I wish to thank the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development for coming here tonight. I appreciate the lucidity of her answers and I apologize for some of my opposition colleagues and their lack of constructive comments and contribution to this debate.

Tonight, I would like to focus my comments and remarks on the subject of older workers. Make no mistake, older workers are a key concern for Canada's new government.

Our new government recognizes and appreciates the hardship faced by older workers who face unexpected changes to their work environment, especially when they live in communities and regions with limited employment alternatives.

Furthermore, we believe that older workers are a valuable and untapped resource in addressing labour market shortages in all industries. We believe that we should continue to encourage them to share their skills and talents well into retirement age.

That is why Canada's new government recently launched a new program to assist older workers in selected communities throughout Canada. In designing this new initiative, we considered the large labour market picture and the important role played by older workers.

Canada is currently undergoing a period of labour shortages. Employers are crying out for skilled workers. We recognize that this situation will only worsen if we do not act now to find solutions, solutions for today. Older workers form a major part of that solution, especially in my home province.

According to recent Statistics Canada findings, Nova Scotia currently has the second oldest population in Canada, with an average age of 41. In addition, we also have the second highest proportion of people older than 65 in Canada at 14.6%.

At a time of labour shortage and a shrinking labour supply, older workers are becoming a critical source of future labour force growth, growth that is critical to our prosperity, not just of Nova Scotia but the entire country.

Indeed, Judy Cutler, director of CARP, Canada's association for the 50-plus, has asked, “We have older workers who want to work. Why not embrace their expertise?”

Clearly, it is essential that we keep older workers active in the labour market. As a recent editorial in the Halifax Daily News indicated, “Giving older workers incentives to postpone retirement, or work part-time while collecting pensions, would at least temporarily ease the coming worker shortage”.

Moreover, Canada's new government has confidence in the continued ability of older workers to contribute to our future prosperity, and we are not alone. A recent OECD study strongly indicated that more focus should be given to the strategies that retrain, retain, and reintegrate older workers into the labour market as they represent “tremendous potential value to businesses, the economy and society”.

I am happy to report such positive assessments of older workers' potential contribution to the labour market. More and more organizations are eager to reintegrate such workers looking for meaningful employment. According to Brad Donnelly, an employment services manager with Manpower Incorporated in Atlantic Canada, tapping into older workers is something companies are increasingly looking to focus on. He said:

They're the target audience we're trying our hardest to recruit. We're seeing a lot more early retirees re-entering the workforce. They're looking to expand their horizons, not just to fill the time, but to learn a new skill.

It may be that the Liberals and the NDP do not believe that older workers are retrainable and can continue to make a contribution to society, but that is not the opinion of the Conservative Party. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm we have for retraining is not shared by the opposition parties and their assessment of the prospects of older workers is excessively bleak and negative.

The NDP member for Acadie—Bathurst believes attempting to retrain and reintegrate those 55 years of age older in the labour market is a waste of time. He said, “--at age 55. Are they supposed to finish grade 12 and then go to university? That makes no sense”.

We have to realize that many people retire at age 55. They have many years left ahead of them to contribute to the workforce. A few short years ago, in the age of our fathers and our grandfathers, and our mothers and our grandmothers, people routinely worked well up into their seventies and even into their early eighties. They expected to. They made a major contribution to society and to this country. There is no reason to think that someone 55 years of age cannot continue to contribute to society. I would say there are quite a few people in this chamber 55 years of age and older who continue to contribute to society.

Listen to the Bloc member for Drummond commenting on the usefulness of retraining older workers. She said:

They want these workers to go back to school and learn a new trade. Let us be logical: that is impossible at 58. What is more, employers are hesitant to hire older workers, and the only way they can manage is to go on welfare.

I fundamentally disagree with that. We have many examples and many opportunities for potential employees, people who have left the workforce or need to be retrained, many of them, quite frankly, do not need to be retrained. They can continue to work in the field that they are already in. They have a lifetime of experience and expertise that they can share to retrain new workers to enter the workforce. They can assist younger Canadians, and in many instances new Canadians, to learn the skills and the trades that they need to become competent workers and successful members of society.

Make no mistake, Canada's new government does not share this negative assessment of older workers expressed by the NDP and Bloc members. On the contrary, older workers represent a key concern for our government. That is why we pay close attention to the insights gained following the conclusion of the older workers' pilot project initiative this past spring.

From this initiative, we learned that success stems from the approaches that include employment assistance services with some combination of training, job search techniques and work experience leading to new jobs. Flexibility in programming, attention to individual needs and learning new skills, practical and relevant to today's economy, were also deemed essential.

While this is true for workers across the country, we determined that older workers, particularly in communities with traditionally high unemployment, often have a harder time finding jobs. That is just the reality of the situation. We have to find ways to mitigate those realities.

That is why Canada's new government has now taken action based on evidence and lessons learned, as I mentioned earlier. We recently announced a new national cost-shared program with the provinces and territories for older workers in vulnerable communities.

To help meet the needs of workers aged 55 to 64 who have lost their jobs, we are investing $70 million in this program called targeted initiative for older workers. That is a substantial amount of money which we expect will help older workers to continue in the workforce.

This initiative will target communities that are experiencing ongoing high unemployment and/or communities that are reliant on a single employer or industry affected by significant downsizing. Under the initiative, older workers can receive income support while receiving various types of assistance such as skills assessment, counselling, skills upgrading and work experience for new jobs.

This initiative is in addition to the support provided through the employment insurance program, which currently provides $1.4 billion in income benefits for some 230,000 unemployed older workers annually. Moreover, through part II of the EI program, 80,000-plus workers aged 50 and over have received assistance in obtaining the skills necessary to get and maintain employment through training, work experience and aid to starting a business.

I would like to emphasize that given Canada's complex economic and demographic environment, it is critical that we fully access the longer term needs of all older workers and the potential effect on the labour market of any additional measures that we may undertake. That is why, as promised in budget 2006, Canada's new government will undertake a feasibility study of measures to better understand older workers' needs and potential measures to assist them.

It is clear that our government is attuned to the needs of older workers. We have programs in place now. We are working to address immediate needs and we are planning for the future.

We will continue to provide support to older workers. We will continue to work with our partners so that older workers, wherever they live across the country, know that this government has devoted its full efforts to finding the best long term approach. We will continue to meet the needs of older workers and, most importantly, we will continue to believe in older workers.

I will mention that the member for Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont has been in the House all evening. If there is time for a question, he would certainly appreciate the opportunity to ask one.

As I conclude, I would ask the minister to further elaborate on the targeted initiative for older workers, understanding that older workers face challenges in the work environment in Canada regardless of where they work--

Human Resources and Skills Development—Main Estimates 2006-07Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

11:10 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Bill Blaikie

I apologize for interrupting the hon. member, but his 10 minutes have expired. He really should put a question to the parliamentary secretary. After that, the member he mentioned can rise and participate.