Finance Committee on Feb. 27th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

That's enough. I said be very short, and I meant it.

Monsieur Laforest, for seven minutes.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Mr. Bouchard.

I understand that the bill you have tabled and are speaking to today holds an extremely laudable objective: to assist regions experiencing the most difficulty reverse the exodus of young people. You mentioned the region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean. I, for one, come from a region that is experiencing something similar. You told us that the act came into effect in Quebec in 2003, and that ultimately it was successful. The goal of the piece of legislation is to further help young people settle in regions and to allow the regions to develop. This is a federal bill that will apply to all provinces. This is a very interesting model.

Have I understood correctly?

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Indeed, this will allow designated regions which have a declining population and are in economic difficulty to retain their young people and provide their industries with skilled workers.

In the region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, for example, we had noted that the population was declining at a rate of more than 5% per year over the last five years. However, this year, we reached a threshold of zero. The population is still in decline, but only slightly. There has been improvement in this regard. This is a positive factor.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

This is one way of providing incentives to young graduates to settle in regions, mainly their region of origin. They can also move from one region to another, where there are jobs. They are given a tax credit, which will have an effect on the local economy and demographics. You told us that your region has already seen results. You have in fact halted the demographic decline. Is this correct?

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Yes, that is absolutely accurate. You have properly summarized my presentation.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I find this excellent. It can be stated that the model developed in Quebec has produced good results. You are now tabling a bill and signalling that we can go even further. The federal government must also help businesses and regions and allow young people to stay in their regions, or return to a region, or move to a region where there is an abundance of jobs. This is really a measure to support the regions.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Yes, I believe it is perfectly logical for the federal government to contribute to this effort. Quebeckers pay their taxes to both orders of government, at the provincial and federal levels. It would be entirely normal for people living in the regions going through economic hardship to benefit from this. We want to extend this benefit to other regions of Canada that are undergoing economic difficulties.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I will hand over to my colleague for the remaining time.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Bouchard, we're talking extensively about Quebec. I'm not aware of the province of origin of all MPs around this table.

The Standing Committee on Natural Resources is currently studying what is going on with the forestry sector. We know that other provinces are affected by the crisis that has struck this sector. I'm referring to regions in Ontario and New Brunswick that could benefit from a bill that seeks to retain young graduates. These people can provide their communities with knowledge and skills, raise families, and increase the population in each province of Canada.

Do you have any other examples in mind?

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Yes, I have examples. In northern British Columbia, there are difficulties. There are also difficulties in Nova Scotia, in the region of Cape Breton. In fact, I believe a member of Parliament has already spoken out on this subject in the House of Commons when the debate was being held. In northern Ontario, and northern Manitoba, there are economic problems. Therefore, this is a proposal that would not just apply in Quebec alone, but many provinces would be able to benefit. Of course, in some provinces, things are going very well: we just need to think of Alberta. I do not believe the province of Alberta would benefit from such a program, but this remains to be seen. Indeed, other regions, other provinces than Quebec could benefit from such a program.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

If you will, Mr. Chairman, while you say that the provinces will benefit, I would rephrase it and say that this bill will benefit young people living in regions that are in difficulty, in all provinces. This bill will benefit families, and people who want to offer their skills in designated regions that are undergoing hardship across many provinces of Canada, including Quebec.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Indeed, you have expressed what I wanted to say. In the end, it is young people, families, and people who want to remain in their regions who will benefit. Many young people want to stay in their regions and hometowns. They left to pursue their studies in urban centres and want to return to their regions. With this type of assistance program, we are finally helping young people return to where they want to be.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Wallace, for seven minutes.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard, for coming today and representing your bill. I have a number of questions for you on this.

First of all, let me just ask you about the following. Monsieur Crête is not here today, but he has proposed some amendments to your bill. Are you aware of that?

Your assistant is.

Are you in favour of those amendments?

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Yes, we have amendments to table. I believe that Mr. Laforest will table them. There are amendments, I can explain them.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

That's good. That's all I need to know.

One of the issues I have with your bill is that nowhere in it can I find a definition of skilled labour. So I could be an actor—and I don't know if that's a skill set or not....

Nowhere in the bill can I find where you define a designated area—which I also have problems with—or what kind of employment is meant by skilled student or recent grad. Have you defined it anywhere? Have I missed it?

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

I will hand the floor over to Mr. Roche, to speak on that.

[Marc-André Roche, Researcher, Bloc Quebecois, Office of Robert Bouchard, MP]

This tax credit will be made available to a young graduate who accepts a job in his area of study. Therefore, to be eligible, he or she must find employment related to his or her area of study, and settle in a specific region.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Right.

[Marc-André Roche]

Therefore, it must be an area of study which is in demand in the region he lives in.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Right, but if I took acting at university and I went back to my community, which happened to be in a designated area, and became an actor, would I still qualify for that?

[Marc-André Roche]

If a theatre troupe is looking for an employee, and is unable to find someone in the region and makes a job offer to somebody from outside the region, yes. Why not?

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

So the goal of your bill is to get young people to stay where they're from; it has nothing to do with making sure that the skill sets are meeting the needs of certain areas.

[Marc-André Roche]

No, it's exactly the opposite. The job must be related to the student's field of study.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Have you been to northern Alberta? Have you been to the tar sands area? No? The oil sands?