Human Resources Committee on Feb. 5th, 2026

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Whenever we work with provinces and territories, we are reliant on their reporting of data, so part of the work is to ensure we get the data we need from provinces and territories. I will say that all of the provinces and territories are working closely with the department so we can assess how this additional boost to any school food programs they might already be delivering is helping.

The other thing I would point out is that the school food program is a reflection of many calls by many advocates to fix the patchwork of systems that exist across the country.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I appreciate this. As a mom, I don't want to see a single kid go hungry. I don't know any parent who wants to see any child go hungry, especially at school. We know that is critically important.

What is, however, very concerning is you rolled out a $1-billion project and boasted about the fact that you were feeding 400,000 kids, and then you had to commission a study for $1 million to prove how many kids were actually getting fed. Why not spend that $1 million on just feeding kids?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

You say that you deeply care about kids going hungry, yet you vote against every measure that helps parents feed their kids.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I vote against wasteful government spending.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

In your own riding—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

No, Minister, respectfully—

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

In your own province of Alberta, this program is helping to feed 58,000 children, and in your own province of Alberta, parents are saving $13,700 per child per year in child care, which you also voted against.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Minister, that only helps the parents who are going to access child care. This is one of the big problems: You guys announce big programs and announce big spends, but you don't make sure the kids who actually need them the most are the ones getting them.

In my home province of Alberta, I'm very proud of the work the Government of Alberta has done in creating new spaces for child care, in ensuring that low-income families have access to these supports and in ensuring that utilization is there for child care. I'm also really proud of the fact that Alberta has had a school food program for decades.

However, you have done nothing as a government to make sure the people who need this support the absolute most are the first ones in line. That concerns me.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

It was a pleasure to work with Minister Nicolaides to extend the Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and to talk about the essentiality of this program not just for parents or young people who are getting the quality child care that puts a parent's mind at ease, but for the economy of Alberta and Canada.

There is incredible research, and I want to thank Madame Larouche for giving me the history of Madame Marois. It is so important to recognize that this is about decades of advocacy, largely by women, to ensure quality care, and it turns out to be the social infrastructure for growing economies.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Minister.

According to your own government's data, there are approximately 6.6 million school-aged children. You guys have designed a school food program that feeds 400,000 kids. It's a guesstimate on your part—a guess.

We know that right now there are 700,000 kids going to food banks every single month. That leaves a gap, based on your guess, of 300,000 kids.

What's up? Why is there such a disparity?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Well, this program was never meant to replace school food programs that already exist in provinces. The challenge was that different school boards had different regimes. Some school boards were not able to afford a school food program at all. The federal government agreed with the provinces and territories to help out, because we agreed with the premise that no kid should be hungry at school.

It's not meant to replace provincial programs; it's meant to augment provincial programs.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Minister—

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I want to thank the provinces for doing this work, because I think everybody agrees that growing brains are essential to the next generation of successful adults.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Absolutely.

I have very little time left. You've had time to consult with your officials, I'm sure.

My colleague Mr. Genuis asked about food inflation. You said that it's tariffs. Which tariffs are impacting food inflation?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I think the real question Canadians have—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

No, you said it's tariffs. I'm asking specifically which tariffs impacted food inflation. You said it. Are you just speaking, or is there an actual answer here?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Goodridge. Your time has gone by.

We'll move to Madame Koutrakis for five minutes.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister and officials, for being here today, for answering all the questions and for helping Canadians have a better understanding of what this government is doing to make sure that we are there every single day for the challenges they face and that we have their backs.

Minister, we hear so much about youth employment. I know that in your opening remarks, you ran out of time. I was wondering if I could give you the opportunity to continue with your commentary as it relates to skills, trades and all the various support programs that are in place to help with the youth employment issue.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Thank you very much, Parliamentary Secretary, for your assistance on this file. It's a big file. It's such an important file to Canadians and in particular young people, and certainly, as we've heard, to families and children.

You're right to ask about youth unemployment. We are very focused on what we can do in the short term and the long term to bring down youth unemployment. Youth unemployment is obviously a challenge for young people, and sometimes there are experiences they might be missing out on that will help build their résumés and careers.

This summer, for example, we're increasing Canada student jobs by 40,000. There will be 100,000 Canada student jobs across the country, including in many of my colleagues' ridings. Despite the fact that they vote against this program, they are avid users of it. I hope that means they recognize how important it is to the young people in their ridings.

We have also increased the student work placement program. It will create 55,000 opportunities for students in 2026-27. This program is very important, because it provides students with paid work experiences in their area of study. Research shows that this results in better attachment to workplaces and provides workplaces, in a way, with the ability to test run a young person, who often blows their socks off and ends up with a permanent job with a particular employer.

Finally, we will be continuing to support many programs through the labour market transfer agreements and through direct delivery to a variety of different hard-working and well-serving organizations around the country that help with very specialized, challenging situations that youth find themselves in.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you for that.

Minister, during periods of economic uncertainty, workers need to know that the system is there for them. Can you outline how recent EI improvements are helping workers navigate layoffs and job transitions with dignity?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

It's such an important question, because, of course, the uncertainty and the impact on specific sectors, like auto, steel and indeed forestry, lumber and aluminum, have meant that there have been layoffs in certain sectors. Despite the overall numbers that show we're holding steady, one job loss is too many, and many people feel very scared when that happens.

I was on EI in my early years, in my twenties. Many of us in this room either know someone who's been on EI or have maybe used it ourselves. If you've been pregnant, you've also used EI. I've had a baby. At the end of the day, employment insurance is like a long-standing social safety network, and that's why the Prime Minister, early on, decided to strengthen it and create new measures that could support people in the case of sudden layoff.

One thing that happens now that is different is workers can get severance and EI at the same time, meaning they don't lose a dollar of their pay and they don't have to face a waiting period for EI. There is no waiting period at all. There was a one-week waiting period. That has been waived.

Indeed, long-tenured workers are getting 20 extra weeks, because sometimes, as a person who's worked for a long time in an industry or for a specific employer, they need time to adjust.

We also have an additional approximately $400 million for provinces and territories to help with the immediate readjustment work around navigating the workforce and figuring out how to update résumés, sort out some of the job searching and determine if there is skills training that can be tapped into immediately. We're working really collaboratively with provinces to make sure workers are supported no matter their situation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

You have 20 seconds.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

If you had to leave Canadians with one last message, how important is it for the budget to pass in order to deliver for Canadians?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I think Canadians are not looking for animosity, delay tactics and obstruction right now. Canadians are seized with the urgency of this moment.

In fact, it was interesting to hear former prime minister Stephen Harper call for unity, including across the corporate sector, in saying that this is a distinct time in the history of Canada where we see Canadians pulling together who are not asking themselves what partisan stripe they are, but asking themselves how they can help each other.

That's what the budget builds on. It builds on a notion of being there for each other.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Madame Koutrakis.

Ms. Larouche, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.