Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the hon. member has been but he has not listed the various programs that we have specifically designed for youth or mentioned the fact that we have invested over $100 million in specific initiatives related to youth in budget 2010.
When we look at the various programs I would invite the member to study and understand them. This effort that we have with respect to young people is between 11 federal departments and agencies and it helps young Canadians develop their skills, get career information and gain valuable work experience.
Through budget 2010, we are putting an additional $60 million into the strategy's career focus and skills link program. This additional funding for career focus will provide support to Canadian employers willing to offer career-related work experience to college and university graduates. The new money for the skills link program will go to organizations that help young people who face special barriers to employment. This could include young people with disabilities, those who live in rural or remote areas or those who have not completed high school.
Just last week, in my home constituency in the town of Whitewood, the federal government partnered with the Saskatchewan government, the Saskatchewan Tourism and Economic Council, the local community of Whitewood, the Cowessess First Nations and local employers to ensure these young people had jobs through significant investments. When I was there watching them, three months into the program I could see the confidence that was instilled in them with the potential that they will have jobs.
The Canada summer jobs program is a good program. It does help not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, small businesses and the private sector to create summer jobs and summer job opportunities for students. It offers vital community services. However, the total program funding over two years is $107.5 million, hardly a rounding figure. We added to that program an additional $10 million last year and an additional $10 million this year. If we look at the overall program we see that 37,500 jobs have been created across Canada, many of them in the member's own riding and ridings right across the country.
To be fair, if it is not a Liberal program it does not mean that it is good or bad. We take it and improve on it. If the member were to ask anyone in any constituency he would hear that this program is well received. It is a program that helps students right across the country to gain valuable work experience while making a meaningful contribution to the community. Another 3,500 new jobs were attributed directly to the economic action plan on top of what I have spoken about.
Budget 2010 provides further investments to support young people, including $10 million to the Canadian Youth Business Foundation to support the next generation of business leaders. These young people are starting businesses and employing people. We invested $20 million for pathways to education, a program that works with disadvantaged young people. The YMCA and YWCA are sharing a $15 million grant from the federal government for their youth echo internship program. Up to 1,000 young people will gain work experience through paid placements and so on.
Through the economic action plan, we are providing another $20 million over two years to increase student employment in the public service. When we start adding up these numbers, both the numbers of students who have jobs and the amount of money that is being invested, it is a significant amount. During a recession period, over $100 million have been added in the budget to deal specifically with young people. It is hardly a rounding figure and hardly a small investment.