Monte Solberg

[Post-Secondary Education, April 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that in the last budget the government moved forward with transformational changes to student financial assistance, which will mean low and middle income Canadians will receive upfront cash grants when they are accepted for post-secondary education, whether at a university, college or technical school.

We have also made important changes to repayment assistance, which will ensure that vulnerable students who struggle to repay will not have to bear that burden for the rest of their lives. We got it done, but the NDP voted against it.

[Human Resources and Social Development, April 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brandon—Souris for his outstanding representation for the people of that riding. He is a great voice for the people of Manitoba.

I was in Winnipeg on Friday and announced, along with the minister of training there, $110 million in new funds from the federal government to provide people who are underrepresented in the workforce a chance to get training. Aboriginals, recent immigrants and persons with disabilities will get the support they need to step into the workforce.

This is an example of our philosophy that all Canadians deserve a hand up to help them succeed like everyone else has come to know.

[Infrastructure, April 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the member is completely wrong in her assertions. The fact is that all proposals for the enabling accessibility fund will have the exact same terms and conditions.

However, it is very low when members on the other side stoop and start to attack a world-class facility that supports people with disabilities simply because it is in a member's riding.

[Mining Industry, April 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, this government sees the great potential in older workers. That is why we continue to provide all kinds of support to help them make the transition from businesses and industries that are struggling to those that are vibrant.

I would remind the member that over 90,000 net new jobs have been created in Quebec over the last year. We need to fill some of those jobs, so we are providing all kinds of new training, including the targeted initiative for older workers, among a suite of programs, to make sure they can make that transition successfully.

[Housing, April 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the member's leadership as the chair of the human resources committee. He does an outstanding job.

Last night I was pleased to have very warm and constructive meetings with my provincial and territorial colleagues. We agreed to work together on these important issues. I was very pleased to point out to them that we are now providing more resources for the building of homes for vulnerable Canadians than any government in history. They were very pleased to learn that.

[Housing, April 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for the question and welcome her back from wherever.

This government is spending more money on housing for vulnerable Canadians than any government in history. The last thing we want to do is go back to the Liberal way and actually reduce the amount of money that is going to provinces and individuals. We will not do that.

This government is standing up for vulnerable Canadians from coast to coast and we will continue to do that in the future.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Human Resources and Social Development Canada does not generally compile or analyze expenditure information by electoral district.

Given this caveat, information is available for the youth--summer career placement and the youth--Canada summer jobs.

The summer career placement program was a program which had funding allocated on a riding basis. Therefore, with respect to the riding of Cape Breton--Canso, for the years 2004 to 2006, the total dollar amount awarded to the successful applicants was $1,924,158 and 1,222 positions were supported through the program.

The Canada summer jobs 2007 initiative was launched by the government on March 1, 2007 to replace the summer career placement program. This initiative, however, did not allocate funding on a riding basis.

That being said, we can estimate the funding this riding received by using a Statistics Canada tool that attempts to match postal codes with electoral districts. This methodology has potential for error, as postal codes can straddle two or more electoral districts.

The amount awarded under the Canada summer jobs in 2007 was $675,088 and 256 positions were supported.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Human Resources and Social Development Canada does not generally compile or analyze expenditure information by electoral district.

That being said, the summer career placement program was a program which had funding allocated on a riding basis. Therefore, with respect to the riding of North Vancouver, in 2005-06, the number of summer career placement applicants was 36, of which 34 were successful. The total dollar amount awarded to the successful applicants was $275,108 and 85 positions were supported through the program. In 2006-07, the number of applicants was 49, of which all 49 were accepted. The total dollar amount awarded to successful applicants was $369,541, and 117 positions were supported through the program.

The Canada summer jobs 2007 initiative was launched by the government on March 1, 2007, to replace the summer career placement program. This initiative, however, did not allocate funding on a riding basis.

This being said, we can estimate the funding this riding received by using a Statistics Canada tool that attempts to match postal codes with electoral districts. This methodology has potential for error, as postal codes can straddle two or more electoral districts.

Given the caveats outlined above, in 2007-08, for the riding of North Vancouver, the number of Canada summer jobs applications received was 49, of which 29 were successful. The total dollar amount awarded to successful applicants was $232,665 and 69 positions were supported through the program.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a) through (d), statistics on investigations of allegations of erroneous advice and administrative error for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 cannot be provided as they were not maintained since such investigations were considered part of regular business operations. However, steps are now being taken to ensure that these statistics are collected in the future.

In response to (e), the approximate numbers of Canada pension plan, CPP, section 66(4) cases which proceeded to the Federal Court for the fiscal years 2003-04 to 2005-06 are as follows:

[Employment Insurance, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the steps we have taken to enhance the employment insurance program, a program which ensures that 84% of full time workers who pay into that program get support. That is extraordinarily important, but it does not end there.

This government has put in place a suite of measures to make sure that we help workers who are struggling in one sector to move to another sector. We have put in place new labour market arrangements and the targeted initiative for older workers. Today we invest more in training than any government in history. We are very proud of that. We see the potential of workers of all kinds. We want to make sure they get the best social program of all: a good job.