Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to say that you have a huge job and that you are doing a very fine job. It's a large department. It's challenging, and after consolidation it is more so. Given what's happening in both the economic and labour areas today, I think you have done a lot of hard work. So I would like to congratulate you.
I want to talk a little bit about post-secondary education. We find that the Liberals forget that sometimes they can be quoted as well. Their own competitiveness critic, Belinda Stronach, once stated that under the Liberal government, post-secondary education was “the poor second cousin in public policy, and the country will pay a price for that lack of vision”. Ms. Stronach went on to note that abandoning education was “a reflection of Liberal priorities”, though, as Ms. Stronach has admitted, the Liberals didn't set the bar high after 13 long years in power.
I was wondering, Minister, could you please speak to our government's commitment to assisting post-secondary students?