Evidence of meeting #24 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 program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
You still have 10 minutes. Sorry, I mean 10 seconds.
Thank you, Mr. Joseph.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Where is Michael Ma? I hope he was here.
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Earlier, I started talking to Ms. Joomun about how students and young adults who are struggling to find housing and buy their first home are in a precarious position. We're concerned about that, and we're looking for solutions for them. We also need to address the rising cost of food.
Now I have some questions for you, Mr. Kirk. You talked about federal grants. Do you have any specific examples that illustrate what precariousness means for a student? Can you paint a picture for us? What are students really experiencing now, and how much poorer might they get?
President, Council of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Schools of Ontario
You may have a single mother, with a child at home, who is struggling to maintain her full-time education, child care, cost of housing and cost of food. All of this adds up.
I will add that people from indigenous communities or other communities have seen an increase in their ability to take these programs with the grants, and that has allowed them to access them.
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
I'll go to Ms. Wu.
What can be done to put these students in a less precarious position?
President, Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine
In our situation, many students are single mothers or are from low-income families. In this case, they are very concerned about the cut.
What we really want to tell the committee is to not cut or make reductions when there are already these ongoing hardships. Also, do not increase the financial burden on our students at this time, and do not add unfairness between the public students attending public institutions and those at private institutions.
We would like the government to be fair and, if possible, increase the funding for specially needed areas and professions such as traditional Chinese medicine.
We have seen and heard so many success stories about graduates who have been able to help Canadians to improve their health and reduce their pains and aches. Most of our students come to study TCM because they themselves are beneficiaries of the treatment of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. They have the passion to help people.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Ms. Wu.
Thank you, Ms. Larouche.
That concludes the second hour of the committee's witness testimony.
I would like to thank the witnesses for appearing.
Also, thank you, Mr. Kirk, for accommodating the committee in the second hour.
With that, we're going to suspend while we transition to in camera for a brief period of time.
[Proceedings continue in camera]
