Debates of April 24th, 2013

Employment

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that there are problems with this program. That is why we are improving it, despite what the NDP says.

On one hand, members of the NDP are asking for less participation in the program; yet, on the other, they are asking ministers to help them find temporary foreign workers to work in their own ridings.

Do they want what they preach or what they practice?

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2009, the minister promised that the program would be monitored, but she did not keep that promise.

Yesterday, Mr. Carney said that this program should be used to fill needs for high-skilled jobs temporarily. However, over the past 10 years, the use of this program has tripled. That is no coincidence. Training a Canadian worker now costs employers more than paying a temporary foreign worker.

Can the minister explain why she would rather support the temporary foreign worker program than help train Canadian workers?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government believes that Canadians should always get first crack at the jobs available in Canada. That is why we are improving the temporary foreign worker program.

If members of the NDP do not like this program, then why are they asking us every day to help them find temporary foreign workers to work in their own ridings?

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats did not ask for Canadian jobs to be taken away, but that is exactly what happened because of Conservative mismanagement.

Back in 2006, the Conservative immigration minister said that he was proud to water down the temporary foreign workers program, essentially only requiring companies to pay lip service to recruiting Canadians first. What was the pressing labour shortage for Conservatives at the time? “When it starts to affect our ability to go to Tim Hortons and get a double-double, it ceases to be a laughing matter”. Canadians are not laughing.

Again, when will the Conservatives fix this program?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we firmly believe Canadians should always get first crack at every job. That is why we are changing the temporary foreign worker program to ensure that happens.

Meanwhile, while they decry the program, NDP members are regularly approaching this government for special assistance to help them get temporary foreign workers into their ridings to work there.

What are we supposed to believe, what they preach or what they practice?

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the latest statistics on student summer jobs show a significant drop in available jobs since 2006. This decline calls into question the funding for post-secondary education for thousands of young people who will have to give up on job opportunities in the new knowledge-based economy.

Does the government intend to increase budgets for summer jobs?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, it is our government that increased funding for this program with our economic action plan, and we made those funds permanent to help young people.

We introduced several other programs to help young people prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Unfortunately, the opposition voted against almost all those programs.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the answers from the Minister of Human Resources leave a lot to be desired. She has said that the programs are working when they really are not. The minister's incompetence comes through whether it is employment insurance or the youth employment strategy.

Here are the facts. We have the highest youth unemployment that the country has ever seen at 14% and 63,000 less youth are being helped under the youth employment strategy than under the previous government.

When will the minister stop reading from lists and implement a strategy that works?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to helping young people prepare themselves for the jobs of today and tomorrow and providing them with experience and opportunities for education, I have to ask why the Liberal Party keeps voting against initiatives like pathways to education, expansion of the career focus program, including 3,000 new internships to help young people get the experience they need and the apprenticeship incentive and completion grants that have gone out to 400,000 Canadians so far.

These are programs that really do help our young people get good jobs.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, no matter how many nickel and dime programs the minister might want to talk about, the fact is they are not working. Sixty-three thousand fewer young Canadians are being served now than when the Conservatives took over. She is sleepwalking when she should wake up and start helping young Canadians.

How can the minister brag about cutting 63,000 summer student jobs when 400,000 young Canadians cannot find work? When is she going to wake up and help these young people?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, there is a global economic challenge still in existence. Canada is fortunate to have one of the lowest unemployment rates for young people in the world right now, but it is not good enough. That is why we have introduced an expansion of 3,000 internships through the career focus program. That is why we have made it possible for almost 400,000 young people to receive apprenticeship grants to help them get the education they need and the skills for the jobs that are in demand.

Sadly, the Liberals voted against all those initiatives to help literally thousands of young people get into the job market.

[Isabelle Morin, NDP, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's strategy is not working.Young Canadians are still feeling the effects of the 2008 economic crisis.

Let us not forget that 280,000 young Canadians lost their jobs during the crisis and that an entire generation is still having trouble finding work in the labour market. Also, more and more young Canadians are losing jobs to temporary foreign workers. According to TD Bank, it will take at least a decade for these young Canadians to recover from the cumulative effects of this economic setback.

Why are the Conservatives stubbornly refusing to look for a solution to the problem?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we have implemented several programs to help young people acquire the skills they need to fill jobs that are available and in demand in Canada.

Every time we have put forward programs for grants, scholarships or help paying for post-secondary courses to help young people prepare for the job market, the NDP has voted against our proposals.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative budgets and all of their initiatives consistently fail Canadian youth. Of course we voted against it. Even if the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism is laughing, young people have been left out of the economic recovery. More than two years after the recession, youth unemployment is stuck at a troubling 14%. That is double the national average.

According to TD Bank:

Being unemployed at a young age can have a long-lasting impact on an individual's career prospects.

When will the Conservatives stop their self-congratulations and start offering real solutions for Canada's youth?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, the best way to help Canada's young people is to ensure that they have the skills that are in demand by employers for jobs that are open. That is why we created the Canada student grant program, which has benefited hundreds of thousands of young people. That is why we introduced and supported the pathways to education program, which helps youth, disadvantaged youth, get through school and into university and college to get the skills they need. That is why we provide the Canada summer jobs program: to help over 30,000 students get the experience they need as well as the funding to continue with their education.

Why will the NDP not support our young people, just for once?

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism will not be laughing when he considers that out of the 280,000 young people who lost their jobs during the recession, only 40,000 actually got new jobs.

The Conservatives do nothing to help with student loans, but they complain about household debt. They refuse to properly fund apprenticeship programs but complain about the lack of skilled workers. Canada's youth are saddled with record debt and fewer job prospects because Conservatives designed it that way.

When will the government finally act to fix this growing job crisis?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, if it were up to the NDP, there are almost 400,000 apprentices who would not have received incentive and completion grants to help them get the skills they need to become ticketed journeypersons and there are almost 300,000 students who would not have received non-repayable Canada student grants.

We have introduced very many projects and programs to help young people get the skills, the education and the experience they need for their jobs. It is unfortunate that the NDP has voted against every single one of those. Without our initiatives, there would be hundreds of thousands more young Canadians out of work.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is easier for the government to replace Canadian workers with foreign workers than it is to help young people. That seems to be what is going on.

According to TD Bank:

Being unemployed at a young age can have a long-lasting impact on an individual's career prospects.

When will the Conservatives stop their self-congratulations and start offering real solutions for Canada's youth?

Young people who do not currently have jobs will continue to feel the devastating effects of the Conservatives' failure to act for decades to come.

Does the minister realize that by twiddling her thumbs on this issue, she is putting the economic future of an entire generation at risk?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, I just mentioned several of our initiatives to help young people acquire the skills they need to get available jobs.

We believe that available jobs should always be offered to Canadians first, but Canadians need the necessary skills.

If he does not like the temporary foreign worker program, why are his colleagues always asking us to help them get temporary workers in their ridings?

Natural Resources

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the oil sands support hundreds of thousands of jobs in communities throughout Canada, from engineers to construction workers to manufacturers to service employees. All Canadians benefit from resource development.

Our government has been clear that we support the Keystone XL pipeline.

Would the parliamentary secretary please update us on the latest developments on this important project?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Calgary Centre for that question.

The Minister of Natural Resources is in Washington today to advocate for Canadian jobs in our resource sector. The difference between our trade missions and the NDP's position is clear. While our government is working to support job creation and economic growth across Canada, the NDP leader and his critics go to Washington to argue against Canadian jobs.

We support Canadian workers. The NDP follows its narrow, ideologically-driven, anti-trade, anti-development, anti-resource, anti-job agenda.

Canada Post

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post is musing about serious reductions, including cutting door-to-door delivery. Instead of eliminating essential postal services, Canada Post needs to expand its e-services, take advantage of its unique coast-to-coast-to-coast network and bring in more revenue.

Why are the Conservatives not looking to new ideas to generate more revenue for Canada Post so that we can continue to get the postal services we deserve?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, as a crown corporation, Canada Post is an organization at arm's length from government. We understand that email and other technologies are creating serious long-term financial problems for Canada Post. To be frank, Canada Post's labour and cost structure is unsustainable for the future.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, all the Conservatives want to talk about is cuts and downsizing, but the NDP wants to talk about new ways of doing business.

A number of countries, such as Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand, have developed effective financial services that ensure that their postal services are profitable. If the Conservatives rely solely on the Conference Board report, they will find nothing but arguments justifying their drive for privatization.

My question is simple. Will the Conservatives maintain this public service for Canadian individuals and businesses across the country?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, as a crown corporation, Canada Post is at arm's length from government.

It is really rich to hear the NDP discuss this, as it is part of the problem. In fact, it is the NDP's big union bosses who helped delay our legislation to restore service to Canadians in 2011. The NDP and its puppet-master, big-boss, union dudes have accelerated Canada Post's decline.