Madam Speaker, I am pleased to talk about this matter. It gives me a chance to explain to the House the circumstances in my riding of Brant. The hon. member is wrong with the numbers that she is quoting on the unemployment rates in 1995 and again in 1997. The rates were acceptable and part of the CJF and TJF programs.
My riding of Brant has suffered extraordinarily in the course of the last decade. The businesses that supported many men and women in Brantford, Massey Ferguson and White Farms, closed up. The rates of unemployment were extraordinary. We had to diversify our economy. As a result of the transitional jobs fund we have really helped my community turn the corner. That is what this is all about.
Just as another point of interest, as part of transitional jobs fund three-quarters of the projects were in ridings of 12% or greater, but a quarter were for projects in ridings where the unemployment level was a pocket of high unemployment, and the majority of those projects were found in opposition ridings.