Mr. Speaker, I apologize for that. In the 1990s the Minister of Finance brought this deeply disturbing and disrespectful proposal to Ontario. It does nothing to deal with the underlying problems in first nations education that I mentioned on Friday. It is the kind of blame the victim approach we have seen in the past from the Conservatives. It saddens me to see it again today.
In a twist that seemingly only the Conservatives could make happen, only $109 million of the $241 million budgeted for this vile workfare program will actually be used to fund the training. The remaining $132 million will go toward administrating the workfare scheme. Only the Conservatives would consider spending $132 million to administer a $109 million fund.
Quality education and training opportunities are vital for aboriginal youth to have a better future. However, it is simply wrong to force any group of people to do any activity to receive the simple benefits that everyone else receives for nothing. This approach smells of discrimination. It was not lost on me that the Conservatives decided to introduce this policy on the United Nations' International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The government should be ashamed of that, but I doubt it is.
This proposal in the budget will not help move aboriginal youth forward and, in my opinion, it is a slap in the face to those who have hoped for some positive educational and training ideas from the government. It is mean-spirited and divisive policies like these that make it impossible to support the budget.
The Conservatives were given another chance with this budget to show that they were truly committed to making our country work and prove that they were truly improving the lives of all Canadians. However, they have again decided to ignore that chance and opted for the same failed approaches they have given us since 2006.
We will see what the Conservatives will do this week. However, I will do the right thing and vote against this budget because it is a continuation of the wrong approach toward first nations.