Madam Speaker, last week, I asked the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth what happened to the $912 million the Liberal government promised to students in June. Students and recent graduates in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona are really struggling. I wanted the minister to know and share in my concern for their welfare. However, instead of showing understanding or compassion, the minister simply rattled off more platitudes and self-congratulatory rhetoric.
The minister spoke of Canada summer jobs. She spoke of the government investing more money in the program. Let us talk about Canada summer jobs. On April 8, the Prime Minister announced changes to the Canada summer jobs program in response to COVID-19, including extended deadlines, extended programming dates and an increase to the wage subsidy rate for employers.
While these changes may have been welcomed by some, they did not actually make a difference for students in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona where only 40% of eligible Canadian summer job applicants received funding. The one thing that would have made this program better would have been more money. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister did not announce any new money for the Canada summer jobs program that day, and instead hinted at a new program for students that would be coming soon.
We now know that the new program was the WE Charity $912-million Canada student service grant. It was announced with great fanfare on June 25 and lasted for eight days before it was cancelled. The why and how of the program is now being investigated by this House, but the overriding question I have is where is the $912 million that was promised for students?
Not a single student benefited from this much-hyped program. To our knowledge, none of this money was spent. Instead, students have gone without and they are suffering because of it. Students rely on summer employment, not just for the summer months, but to provide the funds they need to live on when they go to school.
When the public health crisis shut down so many businesses, students were among the hardest hit. Some were able to access CERB, while others relied on the Canada emergency student benefit, something the Liberals only created when the NDP demanded it. These did help students and allowed them to survive for a few more months. However, these emergency supports have ended and they did not give students and recent graduates the means to survive this school year.
I have a few stories to share. Sandy is a student and when COVID hit, her employment disappeared. She was not eligible for CERB and has had to live on her credit card. She is now back in school, but is facing a pile of bills and looking into personal bankruptcy.
Ethan graduated last November. He was working part time in retail and was looking forward to a career in his chosen field. When the pandemic hit, he lost both his temporary job and his career placement. He could not get CERB or the emergency student benefit, and now does not know how he is going to pay his student loans or even just survive.
Alice had a job lined up for May, but it fell through. She tried to apply for the Canada student service grant, but we know how that ended. She has taken out another loan to pay for her semester, but she is worried about debt and is planning on dropping out.
It is only November. Students are facing at least five more months of tuition and living expenses. The government must make sure that the $912 million allocated for the student service grant program, which never happened, gets to students and gets to students now.
Will the government tell us today how it is getting these emergency funds to students who need them now?