Madam Speaker, I paid attention to what the hon. member stated in reference to the stay in school initiative to provide the tools to motivate the key stakeholders in the community to engage in the process of outlining and telling young Canadians that it is very important to stay in school as a vehicle to achieving a job and to acquiring the life skills required to remain competitive in a very competitive marketplace.
Obviously the hon. member missed the announcement the government made last Friday. There has been some redirection of funding. The government announced a summer job action plan, a package of six job creation elements for secondary and post-secondary education students which will result in the direct creation of approximately 44,500 jobs. In addition, Canada employment centres for students will once again be in operation across the country.
Last year close to 200,000 job vacancies were filled and over 141,000 young people participated in group information sessions. The number is expected to surpass last year's budget for students. The $8.6 million will be increased to $10.4 million. It is also important to note that the budget of the youth internship program has increased from $25 million in 1994-95 to $118 million in 1995-96.
Even though we are living through difficult fiscal times our commitment to young people speaks to two realities: the fact that we believe it is a priority and that we want to engage in effective partnerships at the community level. The announcement last Friday achieved both.