Mr. Speaker, it is with great eagerness that I take part in this debate today and welcome the opportunity to present the true picture of the government's plans to help Canadian young people help themselves to a more promising and prosperous future.
Let me begin by setting the record straight. Contrary to the assumption put forward by the hon. member from Lethbridge, the budget for the youth service corps does not represent new spending. The youth service corps will, in fact, be implemented using departmental resources and money from cost saving initiatives announced in the February 22, 1994 federal budget, pursuant to commitments made in the red book. The youth service corps will not put any additional pressures on our national debt. I can assure the House we will still see a drop in the deficit, down to 3 per cent of GNP, over the next few years, in line with our budget projections.
I believe, however, that my colleague from Lethbridge and other members of his party are being very short-sighted if they are prepared to short-change our young people.
Investing in young people is more than just a matter of dollars and cents.
Common sense and fairness dictate that the government must act to respond to the very difficult reality facing young Canadians. Perhaps the hon. member does not appreciate just how grave the current situation is.
Let me remind the House that, for adolescents and young adults, the recession started sooner and is lasting much longer.
The most recent labour force survey shows that, while the number of unemployed in Canada is down, the youth unemployment rate is rising. It reached 18.1 per cent last month, its highest level since last June. These are the official figures on young unemployed and do not take into account many more young people who do not show up on UI lists.
Let me put that into context. The hon. member represents Lethbridge which, according to the latest census, has a population of roughly 54,000. Compare that to the number of young people currently outside the job market-at last count 428,000. That is almost eight times the population of the city of Lethbridge. Young people are searching for relevant work experience that will give them saleable skills to get their foot in the job market door. Are these the people the hon. member from Lethbridge would penalize? Is he prepared to tell them we do not think they are worth the money?
At this time, I want to digress to pay tribute to a colleague of mine, Senator Jacques Hébert, for his achievements and his tremendous dedication to young Canadians. Through Katimavik, our young learned to help each other. They learned how to become more confident, more enlightened and more tolerant. They learned to make sacrifices throughout the world to help enhance the standard of living of many of our friends in Southern countries, for whom life is sometimes a matter of survival.
It is obvious that it is in our collective best interests to nurture and support the very people who will be tomorrow's workers and taxpayers. On economic grounds alone, the arguments are clear. Canada simply cannot afford a lost generation. Demographic trends clearly demonstrate that Canada will soon suffer a worker shortage. As baby boomers leave the workforce in large numbers, as they tend to do more and more, we will increasingly count on our young.
We will count on our young people to take over from us. They are our hope and tomorrow's leaders.
To compete globally in the next century we will need a highly educated, highly skilled workforce. One needs not be a futurist to know that our continued growth and prosperity depend on the workers of tomorrow, the unemployed youth of today.
There is evidence to suggest that young people who do not form an economic attachment to the labour force today will have much more difficulty in finding and keeping employment in the future.
To suggest that we should not place a spending priority on our most precious resource, our young people, leaves me questioning the commitment of the Reform Party to Canadian youth.
Even more convincing than the economic case is the moral imperative to provide our children with a sense of security, fairness and hope for their future well-being which is also our collective future.
It is heartbreaking to see young people brimming with ideas and ambition, very often far better educated than their elders, unable to apply their skills, their talents and their knowledge.
How can any of us in the elder generation be indifferent to their frustration, to their hopelessness, to their despair of today? It is completely unacceptable that so many young Canadians today have no place to put their energy to constructive use. I believe that every member of the House has a duty to ensure that Canadian youth do not feel rejected or ignored.
We must assure them that we appreciate not only their years of hard work acquiring an education but also their proven willingness to work and contribute to the commonweal. We must clearly demonstrate that we are committed to helping them achieve their enormous potential and that we will work with them to accomplish their goals.
The government intends to do exactly that. We will bring the Liberal vision for youth to life. We are determined to implement the strategies laid out in the red book which describe our action plan for young Canadians.
The Youth Service Corps is a key part of the Liberal promise to create jobs, to restore hope and build a stronger Canada. The youth service corps will provide productive ways to help young people through the transition from school to the workplace.
The youth service corps has four main objectives: community service, understanding Canada, environmental awareness and personal development.
I hope no one will question how valuable the young are in our society. It is important to give our young people the tools they need to prepare a better future for themselves by contributing to the building of our nation. Significant measures will have to be taken, and I think the youth service corps is one of them. So, I would ask the hon. member from Lethbridge: Who would see anything wrong with the youth service corps?