Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out how great a need there is for Human Resources Development Canada's programs, including the Canada jobs fund.
It must be made clear that the mandate of this fund is to create jobs and provide financial support to private sector industry to enable it to compete with businesses internationally.
Since our government has been in power, over 1.7 million jobs have been created. In my riding, textile manufacturers such as Christina Canada, Tricot Exclusive and Heritage Decoys have created 239 jobs. In 1998-99 my riding was able to create a total of 291 jobs.
This is just one program in one riding but I can speak about all the HRDC programs which help Canadians find jobs, school help dropouts learn skills and find employment, help the disabled and illiterate become productive members of society. So why are the opposition members attacking a program that does so much good for so many Canadians?