Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to apply a little reason to what has become a very rhetorical debate.
My colleagues opposite seem to relish raising alarm bells about the national brain drain. It is true some American and Canadian employers are competing for talented Canadian youth. An example would be the software industry. The brain drain is a challenge faced by all industrialized countries including the United States.
I encourage members opposite to raise their awareness of the government's many strategic investments in Canada's young people which seek to create job opportunities for them at home.
I welcome the chance to assure the hon. member that Canada's future is in very good hands. It is in the hands of extraordinarily talented and creative young people, the best educated, the most literate and the most technologically savvy generation the country has ever produced.
As the Prime Minister stated in his Reply to the Speech from the Throne, the government is investing in our youth's future. He said “Canada will remain the best country to live in because it cares about its people”.
Our commitments to Canada's youth are a living testimonial to a fundamental truth. Let me remind the House that the government made youth a national priority. Each year we invest over $2 billion on youth programs aimed at helping young people to realize their potential and to prepare them to seize job opportunities in the emerging new economy. These investments support access to learning, the key to employability in today's demanding and rapidly changing economy.
We offer young Canadians every opportunity to pursue their professional goals by supporting them financially in their post-secondary studies. Increasing access to higher learning is an overriding goal of federal initiatives such as the Canada student loans program, registered education savings plans, and the recently announced millennium scholarship endowment fund.
Access to education is only one part of this equation. The federal government also makes strategic investments in science, technology and the creation of knowledge, the very lifeblood of the new economy. These investments enable Canadian youth to carve out new niches for themselves in an emerging knowledge economy.
To encourage excellence and inspire aspiration, this government funds the $800 million Canadian Foundation for Innovation. By rebuilding the research infrastructure of universities and teaching hospitals, the foundation will stimulate economic development in knowledge intensive sectors to improve opportunities for young graduates to pursue research careers here in Canada.
The Government of Canada also works closely with the national business organizations involved in leading edge research into the development of the workforce for the next century. For example we contribute to the business education partnership forum advisory committee which is organized by the Conference Board of Canada. Initiatives such as Career Edge which is backed by over 200 Canadian corporations and the corporate council on youth and the economy are giving Canadian youth a leg up in the competitive global economy.
This government's productive partnerships with the private sector are equipping young Canadians with the skills they need not only to find work but to excel in an information economy. Partnerships such as the sectoral partnership initiative form a cornerstone for Canada's approach to creating job opportunities for youth.
Many of our initiatives link universities with the business community by bringing together educators, employers, workers and government both to define and to address human resource challenges facing Canadian industry. There are a number of outstanding examples of successful partnerships with universities either directly with individual institutions or through the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.
Another crucial partnership in light of the skills shortage in one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy is the Software Human Resources Council. The council is working to increase the supply and quality of workers entering this booming area of the labour force and in the process is creating opportunities for Canadian youth.
While we are quick to nurture the best and the brightest, we are equally determined to ensure no young person is left behind in the rapid transition to the knowledge economy. We assist youth who experience difficulties moving from school to the labour market through a range of programs under our youth employment strategy. This government invests $375 million a year in initiatives such as Youth Service Canada, Youth Internship Canada and the student summer job action program to help young people find jobs. Over three years this strategy will create nearly 280,000 experiences for young Canadians.
Since the Government of Canada began investing in youth employment in 1994, over 300,000 youth have acquired work experience and skills development. Recent surveys indicate that 88% of Youth Internship Canada and 85% of Youth Service Canada participants are either employed, self-employed or returned to school six to twelve months after completing the federal youth program.
Our collective challenge is to ensure we nurture this new talent pool, match would be workers with job ready employers and create every opportunity for young people to put their abilities to work for the benefit of Canada.
I am the first to admit that government initiatives are not the entire solution. They never will be. There is no doubt there is much more work to be done to ensure Canadian young people assume their rightful place in the workforce. But there can be no denying that this government is doing many things right.
I do not share my hon. colleague's sense of alarm that the sky is falling. Instead I see every reason to believe that Canada in the new millennium will be a place of great hope and equally great opportunity, a place where young Canadians can proudly stake their claim to a better future.
As Canadian naturalist and author Roderick Haig-Brown once said “In Canada my children are free to make their lives as they would be nowhere else, less free perhaps than I was, because now there are more people; but more free because now there are more ways”.
On that inspirational note I urge my hon. colleague to withdraw his unduly pessimistic motion. Instead find new ways to work with us for the betterment of Canada's young people and for us all. For truly, the sky is the limit.