Mr. Speaker, in April 2006, the Conservative government combined adult training, literacy and basic skills acquisition programs. Five months later, it cut funding by $17.7 million. Yet the government said that skills were essential to productivity and well-being.
The federal government did not hold consultations, nor did it offer an explanation, yet it slyly took it upon itself to exclude nearly a million Quebeckers from participating in the economy and the knowledge based society.
The federal government is irresponsible and insensitive, and it lacks long term vision. Is this another expression of its ideological stance on literacy? Since this matter falls under Quebec's jurisdiction, the Bloc Québécois is demanding that the government transfer funds to enable Quebec to support literacy programs for the people who really need it.