Evidence of meeting #1 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clerk.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mrs. Gill.
On technical tests for a witness, go ahead, Madame Desrochers.
Liberal
Caroline Desrochers Liberal Trois-Rivières, QC
Concerning technical tests for witnesses, I move:
That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House Administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.
(Motion agreed to)
Liberal
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Chair, concerning whips' access to digital binders, I move:
That the clerk of the committee be authorized to grant access to the committee's digital binder to the offices of the whips of each recognized party.
(Motion agreed to)
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mr. Joseph.
Who wants to read “Maintenance of Order and Decorum”?
Go ahead, Madam Falk.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake, SK
The motion reads:
That, during meetings, the Chair, if necessary, use his prerogative to suspend the meeting to maintain the order and decorum necessary to ensure the application of the House of Commons’ policies on workplace health and safety.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Ms. Falk.
You've heard the motion. Shall it carry?
(Motion agreed to)
That concludes the routine motions that have been presented to the committee and have been agreed to.
Thank you for that, committee. Those motions will guide us.
Ms. Falk, you have the floor.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake, SK
Thank you very much, Chair, and congratulations on your election to steer the ship. I appreciate it. I've enjoyed working with you in the past and I look forward to working with you in the future.
I would like to move a motion:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Jobs and Families, the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, the Secretary of State for Seniors, the Secretary of State for Labour, and the Secretary of State for Children and Youth to appear separately before the committee, each accompanied by their officials, for a minimum of one hour, to discuss their respective mandates and key priorities in their service to Canadians.
I think that this is something that's quite standard. I know that in the past, this committee has been very good with doing that. I know that we've heard a lot about this being a new government with a new mandate, with a new leader and a new prime minister, so it would be great to have them at our committee to hear what their mandates are and also to be able to hear what they are planning to do for Canadians.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Ms. Falk.
Clerk, is the motion in order?
Ms. Koutrakis, go ahead on the motion—
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Chair, can we suspend for a few minutes so that we can huddle together and come back?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Okay. We'll suspend for a couple of moments. We'll suspend for five.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Committee members, the meeting is back in session.
We have a motion from Ms. Falk.
Ms. Koutrakis has the floor.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We're fine with this motion as is, and we are willing to adopt it as is.
Bloc
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
To me, it's unanimous.
(Motion agreed to)
Mr. Genuis, do you wish to speak on another matter?
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Yes, exactly. Thank you, Chair.
Chair and colleagues, I want to raise the issue of student unemployment, which I think is critical for this committee.
We're headed into the summer, and I'm sure everybody saw the latest Statistics Canada report of very high unemployment rates among young people in general, but particularly high for returning students. We're in a situation now where more than one in five returning students are unemployed this summer. That's a source of hardship for those students, but it also raises significant questions about their futures and, by extension, the future of our country. Students need summer employment, often not only to be able to pay for their academic journeys but also to be able to acquire skills and experiences that they can then leverage for their next steps.
I know we're headed into a parliamentary summer break, but I want to propose that we consider doing some work collaboratively on the student unemployment issue to confront this real and present crisis of students being out of work and to see if we can propose, in a reasonable time frame, some solutions to the government along these lines.
I want to put forward a motion on that, Chair. There may be some discussion about aspects of it, and that's totally fine, but I've put it together as kind of a first volley about how we might approach it. I'll flip it to the clerk in both languages just after I read it.
The motion is as follows:
Statistics Canada has identified that more than 1 in 5 returning students are unemployed this summer. Therefore, the committee agrees that, in the face of this student unemployment crisis and given that Parliament did not sit at all this year until May 26th, this committee conduct a study of the student unemployment crisis pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), consisting of at least 5 meetings and with all hearings to occur before July 31st, 2025. Parliamentarians must be prepared to get to work this summer so that unemployed students can get to work as well.
Colleagues, with the technology we have at our disposal now for virtual meetings, I do think having some summer hearings is much easier than it used to be. We are able to participate in hearings from our ridings, using virtual tools. To do five meetings before the end of July is a total of 10 hours. I think having that 10 hours of hearings in the course of a month and a half is reasonable and allows us, again, in a collaborative way, to hear from witnesses and to confront a very real and present crisis.
As I say in the text of the motion, our getting to work will allow young people to get to work. I don't think this is a study that should wait for the fall, because this is a critical time for young people who are missing these opportunities. We might be able to hear some testimony and put forward some recommendations in real time that would be very impactful for young people.
The motion is on the table now and obviously can be amended. I'd love to hear from colleagues if people want to take this up and proceed with it.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mr. Genuis.
I just want to suspend for a few moments. We don't have it here.
Madame Gill, I'm going to suspend for—
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
The committee is back in session.
I will go to Madame Gill in a moment.
It's my understanding that everybody should now have the motion that was moved by Mr. Genuis.
With that, I am going to go to Madame Gill.
Madame Gill, you had your hand up.
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wasn't actually going to speak to the matter. I just wanted to indicate that I would like to speak once Mr. Genuis is done his presentation because I have a notice of motion also.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Do we have anybody on the motion that's been moved by Mr. Genuis?
We have Ms. Goodridge and then Madam Koutrakis.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Thank you.
Yes, to speak to this issue, I really appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Chair. When we were prorogued, I decided to take it upon myself to spend my time trying to connect with people I don't normally get a chance to connect with, primarily high school students. I took the opportunity to travel to many different communities in my riding, visiting with students of high school age. One of the things that shocked me most was how many times the students would bring up youth unemployment as one of their number one concerns.
As I started going through this, I asked them questions, such as how many of them had a part-time job. Generally, only a handful of kids in the class would raise their hands. When I would ask further how many of them wanted a part-time job, almost everyone would put their hands up. When I asked how many of them were actively applying for jobs, I had some students tell me they'd applied for upwards of 200 jobs and hadn't had a phone call back.
This is the real story. This is in Fort McMurray, where we have a relatively low unemployment rate compared to other parts of the country. As I started going through and asking other colleagues, I found that this is a serious issue facing us.
As we're approaching the summer very quickly, I think it is incumbent on us as politicians to make sure that we find out what the cause of this is, because this wasn't something that I was hearing when I was going to high schools last year. This is a new problem that was caused by the previous government, and it's incumbent on us as parliamentarians to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later so that we can give a future to the next generation.
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Ms. Goodridge.
I'm going to check. Does everybody now have the motion? It was circulated to your P9.
Okay, we all have it.
I'll go to Ms. Koutrakis on the motion.