Madam Speaker, the member who just spoke has outlined an scenario where the government should take a posture where it is responsible for all things and the solution to all things. In my experience in corporate life and in government life, for every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it is wrong.
The member has suggested that this is a bad budget and that the government has forced Canadians into poverty. Yet the member did not concede at any point that Canadians have a role to play as well. The member talked a lot about education. I would raise with him the issue of education. As he knows, the budget contains substantial provisions for assisting Canadians to improve their educational background so they can acquire those jobs they need so they will not be in poverty. I would raise specifically for him the issue of the level of education with regard to youth unemployment.
For a university graduate under 25 their unemployment rate in Canada now is about 6.5%. For a high school graduate their unemployment rate is approximately 15%. But for a high school drop-out their unemployment rate today will be somewhere in the range of 23%. The member is from New Brunswick. He probably should know that the drop-out rate in New Brunswick approaches 30%.
That directly relates to the level of unemployment and certainly the level of poverty and difficulty that some Canadians have. As the member also knows, the jurisdiction with regard to high school education is provincial. He should look very carefully at what each of the provinces has done to invest in those young people to provide for their future.
The member also talks about families and I praise him for raising the issue of families. It is very important. He knows that the budget brought in an important first step, a care giver tax credit related to home care for those who prefer care in the home for the infirm or the aged. He knows that there is a commitment on behalf of the government to home care and to pharmacare and to those kinds of issues.
He must also recognize that we have just balanced the budget and we are now turning a critical corner in which we will be able to reinvest. Those items are there.
I would ask the member philosophically whether he would agree that there is an important role for all to play to invest in things like early childhood development and the early education of children, et cetera, so that some of these problems like unemployment, health care and social programs would be alleviated in order that all Canadians, regardless of their status in life, have a role to play in ensuring that we have Canadians who are physically, mentally and socially healthy.