Evidence of meeting #4 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 40th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
This will be a two-year add-on to the existing arrangement. It's temporary funding that will ramp up and then be withdrawn, if you will, at the end of the two-year period.
Conservative
Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
Right, whereas the normal labour market agreements are what length of agreement or contract?
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
That's a period of six years.
Conservative
Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
Six years. So this is adding on to that.
Are some of these about to expire?
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
The expiry date of the labour market agreements.... They're still relatively new.
Karen, can you jump in on this one for me?
Acting Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
The current agreements are only in their first year, so they extend for a good period of time yet.
Conservative
Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
So this will take it out from here another seven years, in effect, if you're saying that they're six-year terms.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I'm speaking only about the strategic training and transition fund. That's the budget measure that is two years and time-limited. Then we would revert to the normal funding for the duration of the labour market agreement.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
This is a temporary add-on to a base level of funding that's been established under the existing agreements.
Conservative
Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
So that will kick in right away, the first two years.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
It would kick in the next fiscal year.
Conservative
Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
And then the continuation of those labour market agreements, the subsequent five years, would carry on.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
They would carry on, yes, that's correct.
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you.
Those are all the rounds we have. I know that Ms. Beaudin had a quick question she wanted to finish up, if I could indulge the department, and Mr. Savage had one quick question, as do I, and then we'll finish up with that.
Madame Beaudin, I know you were in the middle of trying to ask a question. I'll let you finish that question, just that question, and then we'll move forward.
Bloc
Josée Beaudin Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
You said that there were 41,000 social housing units built under the previous budget. How many social housing units do you plan to see built as part of the new budget?
President, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
We don't have the figures right now because the provinces are responsible for the program. We're in discussions with the provinces about the administrative processes. The provinces are waiting for the budget to decide which initiatives they want to invest in. So we don't have any figures yet, but if the budget passes, in a couple of months, we'll know what the provinces intend to do on that front.
Conservative
Liberal
Michael Savage Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
A request and a question.
On literacy, there was a great article yesterday in The Toronto Star by Carol Goar entitled “Literacy network struggles to survive”. I think literacy is getting a real lousy deal in this country right now. I had asked, when I had my departmental briefing, for some information on literacy funding to the provinces by year. I haven't received that. I'm going to ask if anybody could indulge me and get me that information as quickly as possible, because I hear from a lot of people who are saying their funding has been cut.
I have a very quick question, and this is an easy one, I think. Assuming the budget passes and the budget of the Canada summer jobs program goes up 10%, will all MPs then automatically have a 10% higher allocation of student jobs in their ridings? Is that how it's going to work?
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
The details of the allocation of that new money have not yet been worked out, but that will be done in the coming weeks, certainly with a view to getting that in play as soon as possible for the--
Liberal
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
That's correct.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
All right.
I have a quick question, and I realize this will probably be different if the rate of unemployment changes. In terms of costs or savings to businesses or individuals with regard to freezing the rate-setting mechanism at $1.73, do you have any idea what type of savings will be seen by businesses and employees over the course of 2010? Once again, I understand that a per cent change in unemployment will probably change those numbers considerably.