Madam Speaker, I have looked at the motion put forward by the opposition party on this issue. I have also listened to a number of remarks in the House over the last couple of days during question period.
As a member of parliament who represents one of the ridings which has one of these 37 so-called boondoggles, or billion dollar mess-ups that the opposition likes to say, I would like to explain to people exactly what the one is in my riding. The Fanshawe College, with the help of Human Resources Development Canada, got a grant of $19,800 to promote summer student jobs.
I am in a rural area with a lot of small communities. It was Fanshawe's responsibility over the last couple of years to go to the small communities to promote summer student employment. It did a very good job.
When it came to reporting time, Fanshawe College came to HRDC and said that it was an educational institution and that it want to know what it should do about the GST in terms of its input cost. It wanted to know if it could claim back 100% like it had in other areas.
Because Fanshawe College was one of the 475 projects that was picked out, the auditors came from Montreal. They went through the college's books and said that everything was fine, but that it could only claim 50% of the GST not 100%. So Fanshawe College had to give back $200 in GST. That is one of the 37 examples that those people across the floor keeps saying is mismanaged money.
Summer jobs for students is vitally important in my riding. The jobs that Fanshawe College has provided, and the jobs that the department and the minister have provided in terms of more money going toward summer student employment, has helped my riding and the young people living there.
Hearing that fact, does the hon. member not agree that without knowing all the facts on these cases the motion put forward by his party is a little off base?