Mr. Speaker, on April 14 last, I put a question to the Minister of Human Resources Development concerning his youth action plan.
Instead of answering my question about the jurisdictional conflicts arising from his action plan, the Minister of Human Resources Development merely criticized the fact that I was denouncing his action plan. This is rather odd, since I thought it
was the duty of an opposition member to criticize the government's actions and that this was not the least bit unusual. This is what I was told. Yet, there was the minister criticizing me.
I felt an even greater duty to criticize the plan since it represented another intrusion into an area of provincial jurisdiction, namely education. Let me show you what I mean.
First, let me read the title of the action plan. I have no problem with the first part of the title, "Youth Employment". This is, admittedly, an area of shared jurisdiction.
The second part of the title reads as follows: "And Learning Strategy". Can this title make it any clearer that education is involved? May I remind hon. members that education is an area of exclusive provincial jurisdiction. Yet, there was the Minister of Human Resources Development announcing on April 15 last a strategy which is one more example of federal intrusion in the field of education.
Let us begin by examining the first measure, Youth Service Canada. The first stream identified as a priority area for projects is community development and learning, to quote the action plan, "in the area of education". No effort whatsoever is made to hide the fact.
A second Youth Service Canada component which pertains to education is the education voucher. Following a period of service lasting nine months, participants receive a bonus of $2,000 in the form of an education voucher.
The second measure is the Youth Internship Program. This is a new title designed to avoid any reference to apprenticeship programs. We now speak of youth interns. What does the action plan have to say about youth interns? In the second paragraph, it says that "the federal government is acting to implement new entry level training models". Further on, on page 6, third paragraph: "The standardization of existing training plans will ensure that programs are based on common standards and thus have applicability across Canada."
I will skim over the Summer Employment Program which poses no problems as far as jurisdiction goes, as well as the increases in student loans, although I would like to mention here that among students, notably those in Quebec, 16 per cent are unable to repay their student loans and are forced to seek protection under the bankruptcy legislation. And what is the minister doing? Well, he is increasing the level of indebtedness of students.
On page 11 under Learning Initiatives, mention is made of setting national training goals, of updating existing training measurement tools, of putting multimedia resources and computers in place in schools, of facilitating the dissemination of information on key learning issues and, finally, of maintaining the stay in school program. All of these are education-related initiatives.
Following the unveiling of this program, three provinces decided not to attend the federal-provincial meeting scheduled for the following Monday. That very same day, the Liberal Party and the Parti Quebecois joined forces in the Quebec National Assembly to unanimously pass a motion calling upon the federal government not only to refrain from any further intrusion in, but also to withdraw from the field of manpower training.
Finally, last Friday, the Conseil permanent de la jeunesse , a paragovernmental agency in Quebec, held a press conference to denounce as well federal intrusion in the area of manpower training. I would have liked to put my question to the minister, but I see that his parliamentary secretary is not present. I hope that someone is on hand to speak on his behalf. Normally, we should get an answer to our question.
When will the federal government withdraw from this field-