Thank you, Chair.
First, I want to correct a couple of comments. The youth unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in 15 years. I think that was due to one of the moves our government made, Minister, which you were part of, and which was to remove the very punitive new entrance requirement, which disproportionately impacted young people in the country when accessing the EI program. In fact, it was the former government that cut $20 million from the youth employment strategy.
Minister, my question focuses on the comment you made, because it's in an area that I focus on as an MP. Your statement was that we need to ensure that all young Canadians have a chance to succeed and that we cannot afford to leave these youth behind. This is for those in the age category 17 to 29, for which you have a specific program that captures disadvantaged youth to reorient them into the workplace. These are people you referred to in your opening comments.
Could you speak to this issue and to the ongoing need to put more and more dollars into this stream of your funding programs? I believe it is one of your four key pillar areas. They're programs such as the Pathways program, which is an excellent program you have, Minister.