Debates of May 2nd, 1995

Grandparent Year Act

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, as the Minister of Transport has stated repeatedly and clearly, although maybe not for some, highways are a provincial responsibility. However, the federal government has a longstanding practice of entering into cost sharing agreements to provide some level of service.

Multi-year programs are often developed with a tentative list of projects referenced in the initial agreement. There are myriad reasons why the project lists attached to various highway agreements change over the life of the agreement.

We cannot forecast what may happen as individual projects mature. There may be delays due to design problems, completing the environmental assessment, changes in provincial priorities or cost changes. Virtually all highway agreements administered by the federal government change during the course of a year.

The project list attached to the Nova Scotia agreement was developed in early 1993 as part of an initiative to provide a stimulus to spur economic growth and job creation.

It is worth noting that several provinces are either investigating the option or have implemented public-private partnerships as a means of advancing projects comparable to the highway 104 project.

To answer the question of the member with respect to tolls, the reality is that the province of Nova Scotia requested a change to reallocate some, not all, of the funds to include an allocation for the Fleur-de-lis Trail.

There are actually two Nova Scotia highway programs. Between them approximately $215 million is allocated to route 104, not an insignificant amount. Route 104 has received a tremendous contribution.

Two minutes does not allow me time to rebut every aspect of the allegations made by the member opposite. It is important to use the time to set forth the basic facts so that the lack of substance to the allegations can be seen for what it is: mere opportunism.

To be perfectly clear, there are always discussions with the provinces on transportation issues and project substitutions do occur. The member must understand that the provinces spend the money and decide on the priority of projects.

Unemployment Insurance

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Madam Speaker, we can see that a large number of Quebecers going on welfare every month, generally 40 per cent of the 5,000 individuals or so who join the ranks of welfare recipients, are young people. These numbers have increased since last summer. Why is that?

Since the government passed Bill C-17, to restrict access to unemployment insurance by increasing the qualifying period and reducing benefits as well as the numbers of weeks, people are suffering from this decision and many end up on welfare. I have asked the Minister of Human Resources Development repeatedly if he realized that his cuts to UI had particularly dire consequences for young people who then have to rely on social assistance.

The minister indicated that he wanted to move away from the passive assistance provided through unemployment insurance and toward active assistance. But one should not prevent the other. Nothing prevents us from helping young people who do not have sufficient training or helping them find a job, but when no jobs can be found for those who are already trained-many university graduates came to see me at my constituency office-why refuse them access to unemployment insurance? Why make their first few contacts with the job market more difficult because jobs are too short, because employment is temporary instead of being stable? Why force young people onto welfare?

We believe that the government should amend this clause of Bill C-17. It makes no sense, because the first contacts that young people have with the work force teaches them that they do not belong in it. How are the amounts accumulating in the unemployment insurance fund being used? In the last budget, an accounting trick allowed the government to use these funds to reduce the deficit. To a great extent, it is young people and women are the ones paying for this deficit reduction move.

This is not acceptable in a society like ours, and it is above all not acceptable for Quebec, where young people are considered the engine, the vital element, because, among other things, they will have families and will make it possible for the people of Quebec, which is an endangered species in North America, counting for barely more than 2 per cent of the population, to survive.

And now young people are swelling the welfare ranks because we have stripped them of even the glimmer of a hope of ever finding a job.

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, we would agree with the hon. member that the situation of young people in Canada is an issue that concerns us all. However, we believe it is incorrect to assume that most people who leave UI will go on welfare.

Employment gains in 1994 reduced new UI claims by some 10 per cent from 1993 and helped over 200,000 more people get off UI without exhausting their benefits. Data for March shows that the unemployment rate for Canadian workers 15 to 24 years of age has decreased by 2.4 per cent since the government came into power. While that is still not an acceptable figure, we intend to continue to work on the situation.

We are committed to stimulating the creation of employment opportunities for youth and taking concrete action. Summer employment programs have been redesigned to reinforce programs that provide the best results in job creation. The student summer job action program, a package of six job creation elements that will target the needs of post-secondary and senior high school students, will result in the creation of 44,500 summer jobs. The continuation of the youth internship program funding has been increased to $118 million from the 1994 funding of $25 million. We intend to continue Youth Service Canada, with an expected 17,500 participants over three years. The funding has increased to $28 million from $25 million. In addition, we are creating new funding of $15 million for Youth Service Canada. Overall, funds for youth programs and services for 1995-96 have increased by $43 million.

In Quebec, HRD is opening six Canada Employment Centres for students on Montreal Island. Approximately 50 students will be working in six Canada Employment Centres and approximately 7,000 jobs will be posted.

Jobs are what Canadian youth needs and jobs are what this government is creating for them.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Pursuant to Standing Order 38(5), a motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7.04 p.m.)