Finance Committee on June 1st, 2026

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

In Alberta, housing has received over $75 million for homelessness services.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

You guys made the promise. When will it be fulfilled?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I'm sorry. I can't even answer.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

It's because there is no answer.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Wow.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you. That concludes your time.

We'll continue now with Mr. Sawatzky for five minutes.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Thank you, Minister, for being here. I really appreciate all the great work you're doing for Canadians.

In my riding of New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, I have the privilege of representing many union workers, apprentices and families that have helped build our communities and, of course, this economy.

The spring economic update proposes $225 million over five years for the union training and innovation program to help union-run training centres upgrade facilities, expand capacity and invest in modern equipment. How will this investment strengthen Canada's training infrastructure and help ensure that workers have the skills needed to deliver the housing, infrastructure, energy and nation-building projects that Canadians are counting on?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Thank you very much for the question and for giving me a few moments to answer it.

It's really important that we work closely with unions and union training organizations, as well as polytechnic institutions that are doing this really incredible work of not only recruiting people to the trades but making sure they get through that skilled trades training.

Nonetheless, even with all of that support, many apprentices say that it's difficult to get to the completion. Partly that's because hours can come and go. People are oftentimes reluctant to hire that first-year apprentice. During periods of slowdown through training, when people are losing earnings or in the case of layoffs in the construction sector, apprentices can find it very challenging financially to stick with their training.

What unions have been calling for is exactly what you found in the spring economic update. That's why we've received such accolades from colleagues across the country—union colleagues, polytechnics, institutions and trainers who are saying we can do a better job of not just attracting people to the trades but making sure they get through that pipeline of training.

We have a lot of apprentices right now who are really looking forward to getting these financial supports, which will help stabilize their income so that they don't have to worry about how they're going to pay their mortgage or their truck payment. Rather, they can focus on that next block of learning that's going to get them that much closer to their Red Seal. The Red Seal is really the ticket that allows someone to continue not only to earn a great living for themselves and their families but also build the major projects, such as the ones we were just talking about in Alberta, which I would have mentioned if I had the chance to.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

With the direction of the government, one of the things I'm most happy about right now is the extent to which we're investing in young people. We're helping their education, skills development and pathways into good jobs. With programs like Canada summer jobs, the student work placement program, the youth employment and skills strategy, and enhanced Canada student financial assistance program, we're helping them with experience, training and job opportunities. Can you tell us how these investments are creating opportunities and setting young people up for long-term success?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Thanks. It's great to get a question from a young member of Parliament like you. On a personal note, it's really affirming to see so many young elected members of Parliament in the House of Commons, because you have such relevant experience and really lived experience right now.

In terms of the work that we do to support young people, I would say that the first thing to note is that we transfer $3 billion to provinces and territories every year to help with this work. We're not the only game in town.

We add to those transfers to very specifically focus on a few different categories of youth. One is youth who might be having a really hard time getting their first work experience or who, in some cases, haven't completed their education. There are not-for-profit organizations and public institutions that do really important work to make sure that people don't.... I really believe that everybody deserves a second chance and that sometimes people leave school because of circumstances in their life that are really hard to handle. There's nothing worse than seeing someone who hasn't had that second chance get further and further away from employment. The work we do with those groups is critically important, not just for their outcomes but also for the outcomes of Canada, to help make sure that these people get to their full potential and the promise they hold for our country.

Second, we also make sure to support young people with things like Canada student loans and grants, as well as other experiences, such as youth work experiences like the Canada summer jobs program and the student work placements I talked about for post-secondary students. They are really looking to home in on what they're learning and match that with what is really happening in the workforce.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Just to expand on your point about how the government is extending enhanced Canada student grants and interest-free Canada student loans for the 2026-27 academic year, that's expected to help hundreds of thousands of students across the country. I know a lot of people are really struggling with—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Sawatzky—

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

It's a good job, doing that.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

—that concludes your time.

We are now starting the last round. We have about eight minutes left.

Mr. Lefebvre, you may go ahead for four minutes.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here.

Thank you for being here, gentlemen.

Minister, naturally I want to talk to you about Cúram again, as I'm sure you know. The IT modernization project was supposed to cost $1.75 billion initially, but that number is up to $6.6 billion now.

In its spring economic update, the government allocated another half a billion dollars to the project. It's going to cost more than $7 billion. It's the biggest financial scandal in Canada's history, and the system doesn't even work.

We met on March 26, Minister, and I offered you my help. I wanted us to meet with employees who are using Cúram to see what the problems are. You said you would think about it.

Have you had a chance to think about it? Will you accept my offer?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Thank you very much.

In fact, I did one better. I met with Service Canada employees in my own riding. I was in Marathon, Ontario, just a few weeks ago, where I stopped at the Service Canada office. Now, Marathon is a very small community, with only 6,000 people, but they have an incredible team of Service Canada employees who not only help with issues that—

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Minister, I'm talking about employees who are using the system, who are using the Cúram software.

I'm not sure whether you noticed, but I left the meeting a few minutes ago. I don't know whether you saw that.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I am sorry, but I am not aware of your whereabouts. I will say that in fact Service Canada—

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Just a moment, Minister. I'm not finished.

I left the meeting a few minutes ago because I was on the phone with one of your employees who uses the Cúram system. The employee told me the system doesn't work. Staff want to meet with you to explain why it doesn't work and share their ideas on how to fix it. They told me they aren't being listened to. They wrote to me. I got a letter yesterday, and I was just on the phone with one of your employees who said that the system doesn't work and that there are ways to fix the problem. They're ready to meet with you. I'm offering my help, so you and I can meet with them together.

This is the biggest financial scandal in history, Minister. You should show leadership.

Do you think this is funny, Minister? As we speak, 48,000 seniors are not getting their benefits. They've been waiting eight or nine months for their benefits. Minister, you have the gall to laugh, when—

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Monsieur Lefebvre, I'm sorry.

Go ahead, Mr. Turnbull.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I'm sorry to interrupt.

I know my colleague is very passionate, but he's raising his voice to a level that may cause acoustic shock for our interpreters. I know he values the work of our interpreters, but we try not to yell into the microphone. I've made this mistake a couple of times, being very passionate myself.

I just wanted to caution the member through the chair. We really value our interpreters.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Turnbull.

I would like to remind you, Mr. Lefebvre.... I understand there's passion here, but keep the tone low for our interpreters.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the honourable member and apologize to the interpreters.