Mr. Speaker, it is with pride and enthusiasm that, on Thursday, in L'Annonciation, which is located in the RCM of Antoine-Labelle, I attended the closing ceremony of a Youth Service Canada project that was a resounding success in the community. “Les bons J.A.C.” is a joint initiative of the Quebec Provincial Police and the Antoine-Labelle RCM that began in August 1999.
One of the objectives of that program was to allow young people to gain the basic knowledge and experience that they needed to enter today's labour market. For 32 weeks, ten young people from L'Annonciation had the opportunity to take part in the organization and planning of activities geared to eliminating, through prevention, awareness promotional activities, the problems relating to violence and discrimination.
These young people also helped create a community garden, while supporting other regional organizations, to bring generations closer together and create connections between young people and parents.
During the project, public mischief went down from 16 cases in 1998 to only one in 2001. These figures show that federal programs for young people are a good thing.