So there was no real matrix, and in your view summer employment programs are fat.
In my community, I know that when we gave money to the private sector to create summer work, these were some of the better jobs for some of our students. The private sector paid the going rate, and then there was a top-up so that these folks could make a few extra dollars and get some experience in some of the areas they were training for--for example, pharmacy.
Also, I want to focus for a second on the cuts you made to the voluntary sector. Do you not recognize the value of the not-for-profit and voluntary sectors and their ability to deliver programs across the country?
I was at a dinner on Saturday night for the St. John Ambulance in my community. We were there with the district manager and lots of military types around the table--a place you'd probably be more comfortable in than I, perhaps. Anyway, it was great to be there, but they were asking me: “Does the minister understand the impact the cuts are having on that very voluntary sector in our communities that shows up at all of the sporting events to make sure we're all safe, and if we fall down or get sick, we're looked after?”
I'd like to ask the minister, because this has several factors to it, do you believe that the process followed by the government in identifying the savings announced on September 25 respects the accord between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector signed in December 2001, and is in keeping with section 5.2.3 of the code of good practice on funding, which calls on the government to solicit and consider voluntary sector views on better ways to meet funding needs and facilitate long-term planning in the voluntary sector?