Mr. Speaker, to clarify, my late show is actually based on a question that was directed to the Minister of Employment on the lack of follow-up in terms of funding that was committed to aboriginal youth programming in northern Manitoba. To be specific, it is the fact that the government has dropped the ball when it comes to funding the skills link programming.
I do not know who can say no to the skills link program. It is a program that is absolutely integral to ensuring that aboriginal youth, particularly at-risk aboriginal youth, do not fall through the cracks, and that they continue furthering their education, often with a special focus on the trades.
I am speaking in particular about two programs in northern Manitoba that have been set back by the Conservative government's failure to live up to its commitment of funding. I am talking about the youth build program that is based out of the Boys & Girls Club in Thompson, Manitoba, and the programming based out of the friendship centre in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Both of these programs were told that their applications for skills link funding were in good standing. Both programs were told that funding would be in the works. The staff in Thompson were told that the funding would be rolling out in September and then it was October. They were then given the date of January 20. All of those three dates have come and gone. These executive directors and these teams, who are simply trying to make a better future for these young people, have faced calls that lead nowhere and commitment after commitment that is not fulfilled.
What it really comes down to is a fundamental fracturing of the kind of trust that people ought to have in their government, not just on any issue but on an issue that the Conservative government has time and time again paid lip service to. It says that it wants to support training for aboriginal youth, but where is the money? The commitment has been there. We have heard the lip service in throne speech after throne speech. We even heard it in the last one, but when it comes time to put its money where its mouth is, the Conservative government is not there.
If that is not bad enough, let us look at the reality. The program in Thompson attracts around 20 youth. Often, these youth have dropped out of school. Some of them are teenage parents. Some have had a tough life, where they have been involved in gangs and dangerous activities. However, every single one of these youth are in this program, they applied and they were accepted, because they show not only the promise of change but the commitment to get their lives going on the right track, to get an education, to get a trade, to get a job, to sustain their families, to contribute to their communities.
These youth in both Thompson and Flin Flon, and perhaps in other communities, are the people who are being let down by the federal government. My question is this. When will that funding flow and when will these aboriginal youth be supported?