Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's very kind of you to give me the floor.
One of the problems with this motion is that it concerns only Alberta. I know that my colleagues in the opposition feel very passionate about Alberta. However, our Parliament doesn't take care of only one region at the expense of others. Other regions also need our support.
I've looked at the employment statistics. I can see that Prince Edward Island's unemployment rate is 10.7%, Nova Scotia's rate is 8.3%, New Brunswick's rate is 9.5 %, and Newfoundland and Labrador's rate is 13.4%. Alberta's unemployment rate is 8.1%, according to the statistics before me.
Therefore, I don't understand why we're focusing on only one province. I know the region is extremely important to the members from that province. At the same time, I'm thinking of certain aboriginal communities whose unemployment rate is 80%.
I've had the chance to visit some of these communities. If as much time had been spent on preparing a similar report, in the last 10 years, these aboriginal communities wouldn't have been in such bad condition. We must move heaven and earth to help these aboriginal communities.
That's one of my concerns regarding the motion. We can't focus on only one region at the expense of others. We must look at the entire country since our Parliament is national.
I also want to draw attention to part of Mr. Liepert's speech. He spoke of granting subsidies to major oil companies.
Oil wells have been abandoned by bankrupt companies. I think there's already a fund whose goal is to help both restore oil wells and protect the environment. However, I don't think our role is to make sure subsidies are granted to companies that can't fulfill their responsibilities.
Representatives of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation who appeared before the committee told us that they have already stated their opposition to any form of subsidy for these companies. I know the group has a major impact in these regions.
As a result, I don't think much of your suggestion. I think the requirement to subsidize companies that can't fulfill their responsibilities shows a lack of respect for taxpayers in Alberta, Manitoba and across the country. Even though the cause is good, these people must fulfill their responsibilities if they decide to undertake an economic activity or establish a business.
I now want to talk about the report, which I never had the opportunity to read. Even though the report is mentioned in the motion, I never personally received a copy in either English or French. There's an extremely partisan website that describes the report in question.
Mr. Jeneroux, you said that the member who spoke a few minutes earlier wanted to take a non-partisan approach. Unfortunately, his whole speech was very partisan. The report itself is partisan, especially given that no other party participated in it.
There's another problem. To speak on behalf of all Albertans, I think the report should have involved representatives and municipal councillors in Alberta, members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and other members from Alberta, and not only Conservative members from Alberta. This would have allowed for a broader range of ideas rather than a restricted ideology. It would have provided for an overall picture of the situation. I think that's one of the problems.
Let's talk about the report. The report concerns the Alberta Jobs Taskforce, which focused on job creation. It's a good idea. However, as a former university professor, if this report had been submitted to me, I would have analyzed it more critically.
One of the first recommendations is to reduce the tax burden on Alberta's families and businesses. We know that our government has done a great deal in this area. We've already reduced the tax burden. At the committee, we've had the opportunity to study this idea a number of times in the meetings on the recent budget and the budget following our election.
We can see that you didn't stop there. You spoke about the carbon tax, the price on carbon and the cancellation of the mandatory increase of Canada Pension Plan contributions, even though it's a way to prepare for the future. I think it's extremely important to think of the future and it's one of the things you addressed. We're trying to keep the long term in mind for the good of our constituents. What can we do for them over the long term? In that case, I find your first recommendation contradictory.
Recommendation 2 states the following:
The Taskforce recommends that the Government of Canada increase support for job creation in Alberta’s Oil and Gas Industry by: a) Honouring decisions of the National Energy Board that will see the approval and expansion of pipeline projects in order to safely get Canadian products to market and create jobs,
The government has already approved certain pipeline measures to get gas and oil to markets. I think we've already been working very hard, before even looking at the report, on trying to implement this recommendation.
Recommendation 3 states the following:
The Taskforce recommends that additional support be immediately provided to help unemployed Albertans transition through this crisis. Specifically, it recommends that the Government: a) Encourage retraining and education programs by increasing their promotion and offering incentives to workers and employers who use them, and b) Review the Employment Insurance program to improve efficiency, increase fairness, and encourage professional development.
I know that we've already been discussing this aspect for several months to make sure that everyone from Alberta in need receives extended employment insurance benefits, which can help families.
Unfortunately, we can't continue to help these people for years to come. However, I know they were entitled to an extension. Temporary measures were implemented to help certain regions of the country. I remember that Alberta, therefore Edmonton, was included in the measures. It was an extremely important moment because the government was initially questioned about the need for the extension and the temporary measures.
In the end, after a discussion with Alberta members Randy Boissonnault, Amarjeet Sohi, Darshan Singh Kang and Kent Hehr, the government took into account the arguments raised by these members of the Conservative caucus and decided to implement these measures so that everyone in Alberta could have access to employment insurance.
Recommendation four states the following:
The Taskforce recommends that the Government of Canada provide immediate critical support to Alberta’s families by: a) Investing in programs and partnerships to help local food banks respond to the growing demand,
I think our government has already done this. It can continue to do better, because the work is never finished. For example, the Canada child benefit includes a number of measures aimed at increasing the income of young families so they can better meet the needs of their children.
The president of the Winnipeg Harvest food bank, which is in my constituency, has noticed a significant decrease in the number of families using the food bank's services. The organization wasn't meant to still exist after 20 years. It should be noted that, initially, the organization was supposed to provide the services only on a temporary basis. As a result of the services, the families' situations have started to improve, since it's a type of guaranteed income for them.
I know it's never enough. I want the government to be able to help everyone, all the time. Nevertheless, these measures have greatly contributed to bringing children out of poverty by helping families meet their food and housing needs.
Recommendation four also asks the federal government to implement new programs and provide increased mental health funding. The federal government and the Minister of Health, Jane Philpott, are already working on this. The government proposed to the provinces an increase in the equalization payments for health to help the provinces provide mental health services. It's extremely important. Obviously, it's never enough and we can always do better.
Since before the holidays, the government has been working on having the proposal accepted across the country. Thankfully, a number of provinces have accepted it because they consider mental health services extremely important. Those provinces are currently using the funds to provide more services to their residents.