Mr. Speaker, jobs are and continue to be the Government of Canada's highest priority.
Since the government took power it has worked very hard to create the climate necessary for job creation and economic growth. A number of measures have been taken to stimulate employment growth in Canada, including the $6 billion infrastructure program, a national tourism promotion program and the reform of the Small Business Loans Act to improve access to capital for small businesses.
In the speech from the throne and the 1996 budget, the government re-emphasized its commitment to increasing job opportunities for Canadians. For example, it doubled its contribution to student summer job creation this year and it launched Technology Partnerships Canada, a $250 million fund to support technology development and job creation in the aerospace, environmental and biotechnology sectors.
The government also launched the expansion of the Community Access and SchoolNet programs to improve access to the information highway.
The results so far show that the job strategy of the government is working. Since October 1993 over 639,000 additional new jobs have been created across the country, and these jobs are mainly full time jobs. In the meantime, the unemployment rate declined by almost two full percentage points from 11.1 per cent in October of 1993 to 9.4 per cent in August of 1996.
Since the government came into office, helping young Canadians make the transition into the workforce has been our particular priority. Three hundred and fifty million dollars was allocated to youth employment initiatives over a three-year period, sixty million of which was allocated to summer employment programs this past summer creating more than 60,000 summer jobs for young Canadians.
In addition, the findings and recommendations of last spring's ministerial task force on youth and of the recent youth conference will help in the development of a new youth strategy. The strategy is expected to be announced later this fall.
The government has a job creation record to be proud of. It will continue in its effort to help Canadians find and keep jobs, working in collaboration with provinces and the private sector.