Debates of Nov. 3rd, 2025

Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, I move that the first report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities presented on Monday, September 22, be concurred in.

This afternoon we are seized with debate on the first report of the human resources committee, a report that unanimously expresses the committee's alarm about the catastrophic youth employment rate. That rate is in fact the worst it has been in more than a quarter century.

Since the government blocked natural resource projects, disparaged a critical sector of our economy, wreaked havoc on our immigration system and failed to align skills training with actual labour market needs, we are now facing an alarming reality: Almost half a million young people are unemployed. The current youth unemployment rate is 14.7%. It is continuing to rise and is approaching 15%.

Over the last month, I have been visiting university campuses and asking students a very simple question: “Are you better or worse off than your parents' generation?” Sadly, but overwhelmingly, students have been telling me they are worse off, and it is not difficult to see why. Young people are concerned about whether they will be able to get a job when they graduate. Some are pursuing further studies just to compete for positions that actually do not require those additional qualifications. Young people across this country from a broad range of backgrounds recognize they face brutal and near impossible competition for entry-level jobs due to Liberal immigration and economic policy failure.

Even for those hopeful about stepping onto that first rung of employment, earning enough for a down payment on a home still feels impossibly out of reach. In response to my question, “Are you better or worse off than your parents' generation?”, one student put it to me this way. She said that they are supposed to have more things because of technology, access to information and innovation, but that in reality they have more access to what is not essential and the things that are essential in life are moving completely out of reach. This is the alarming reality for many young people. Despite their best efforts and all the sacrifices they have already made, the basic essentials, a job and a home, are out of reach.

Quite simply, what young people today need is three things: jobs, homes and hope. They need a job so they work hard, earn income and experience the joy, connection and meaning that comes through work. They need a home so they can live independently and start a family on their own. They need hope that all these things are still possible and that a country at least as good as the one their parents grew up in is still possible in 2025.

In these conversations with young people, the significant barriers to family formation caused by a bad economy are also top of mind. Canadian women report that, on average, they would like to have 2.2 children over the course of their lives, yet the actual fertility rate has dropped to 1.26 children per woman, which is a gap between desire and outcome of almost one child per woman. It is not hard to see why desires in this regard are not being met. When people form families and have children, it reflects their economic position, their ability to provide for that next generation, or the sense of their own readiness to do that. It also is an expression of hope for the future that they can provide for their children. However, when they cannot find a job or afford a home, it is hope that dies last. Young people need jobs, homes and hope.

We also need to think about the wider social effects of youth unemployment. Some may hear this discussion about the great challenges facing young people and ask if that really matters to them. Our country faces a brutal cost of living crisis that affects everyone: the old, the young and those in between. Bad Liberal economic and immigration policies are not just affecting the young, they are in fact affecting everybody.

However, when young people cannot afford to get started in life, cannot afford homes, cannot afford to start families and, in many cases, are forced to leave their communities because they cannot afford to stay, then we see a kind of demographic distortion, where older people are left without a proportionate number of younger people in their community to pay into the systems they rely on and to be with them in living, breathing, continuing and growing communities. We must recognize the natural complementarity that exists between generations. The increasing disconnection in our society between generations is why younger people are increasingly overwhelmed while many older people face a crisis of loneliness.

I will be sharing my time.

Living, breathing, vibrant communities are ones in which young people have jobs, homes and hope so that they can stay with, live among, learn from and support those who are aging. Youth unemployment is driving young people out of communities and preventing them from forming new families of their own. This affects everybody. We all need to worry about youth unemployment because we are all in this together. We cannot allow Liberal economic failures that make life less affordable for everyone to drive intergenerational conflict.

Young people being forced to leave communities when they cannot form families of their own creates significant problems for their parents and grandparents. For those who have not read the dystopian novel The Children of Men by P.D. James, I certainly recommend picking it up. We are not there yet, but it is clear that the author understands something profound about the wider social effects that come from losing the next generation.

We can end this Liberal dystopia and bring back jobs, homes and hope. The government should choose tomorrow to release an affordable budget and start to confront these challenges.

Recognizing the acuteness of the crisis facing young people, Conservatives have taken a very constructive approach. We have initiated a youth unemployment study. In fact, we were pushing for this study back in the spring. The Liberals blocked that from happening, and we were not able to start that work until the fall, but here we are. We have heard witness after witness highlight the failures of the government when it comes to economic and immigration policy. We have put forward the study and we have put forward a Conservative youth jobs plan.

The government does not have a plan. Its policies have created this crisis and are making this crisis worse, but we have offered constructive solutions. We have put forward the Conservative youth jobs plan, which would confront this challenge. Our plan has four simple parts. I hope the government will respond to these proposals constructively in the budget tomorrow. I hope we will see an affordable budget that includes elements of the Conservative youth jobs plan. The plan is simple: number one, unleash the economy; number two, fix immigration; number three, fix training; and number four, build homes where the jobs are.

Unleashing the economy means repealing Liberal bills that block development and energy development, making it more difficult to construct a home and more difficult for major projects to move forward. It means implementing a genuinely pro-development agenda that does not involve picking and choosing a small number of preferred projects or preferred companies for subsidies. As we have sometimes seen, some preferred companies that have gotten subsidies move jobs out of the country anyway. Unleashing the economy means removing the barriers the Liberals have put in place to allow all companies working on developing major projects to see a runway absent aggressive regulation and taxation and see their projects move forward.

Fixing immigration means putting the immigration system back in line with the needs and interests of this country, especially when it comes to employment and opportunity. Part of fixing immigration is fixing credential recognition. We have people coming here who could be working in areas where there is significant demand for those skills, but instead, when their credentials are not recognized, they are forced to compete against young people for entry-level jobs. Let us get skilled professionals who have come from abroad out of those entry-level jobs by recognizing their credentials. Let us address programs, like the temporary foreign worker program, that are driving aggressive competition for entry-level jobs and shutting out our young people.

To fix training, we have put forward a substantial, rigorous proposal to make training more available to young people in areas that align with the needs of the labour market. We propose that students pursuing in-demand studies receive relatively more generous financial support. Sadly, the Liberals have already dismissed this proposal. We say that when we have skills gaps in this country, rather than focusing on bringing in people from abroad, we need to focus on training Canadian young people to fill the skill gaps that exist.

Finally, we propose substantial new incentives to make it easier for employers to build homes where jobs exist. We proposed a 100% accelerated capital cost write-off for companies that build employee housing to address the challenges employers in remote areas sometimes have in attracting employees to those areas.

This is our Conservative jobs plan: unleash the economy, fix immigration, fix training and build homes where the jobs are. It responds to the youth jobs crisis, which is approaching half a million unemployed young people.

It is time for action. This report calls for that, and I hope we see action from the government on this unemployment crisis.

[Dominique O'Rourke, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Madam Speaker, there is good news, because tomorrow, the federal budget will tell us more about investments in major projects in this country.

The strategic response fund is helping to sustain important industries in Canada in the face of U.S. tariffs. We have ambitious trades and re-skilling funds, as well as the foreign credentials recognition fund. With respect to homes, I am looking forward to the member opposite supporting Build Canada Homes. There is good news on housing, because the rental market in Canada is experiencing a decline in average rent.

These things do not happen overnight, and there is more work to be done, but I hope the member opposite is going to encourage young people and point them in the right direction, and stop talking down Canada. Will he do that?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, that was a uniquely ridiculous question, even from a Liberal member.

I have never talked down Canada. I am proud to live in this country and fight for this country. I am fighting for this country for my children and grandchildren, and all of our children. However, we have to recognize the reality of what the member's government has done to this country over the last 10 years. The realities are unmistakable.

If the member talks to young people, she will hear about the challenges they are facing. The fact is that we are approaching half a million unemployed young people. The unemployment rate for youth is at almost 15%, and we are going to see new numbers coming out on Friday. Young people are deeply concerned about this reality, which is getting worse.

Rather than throw out slogans like “talking down” and “more spending on the same thing”, let us talk about the real numbers and solutions. We have put forward a plan. Where is their plan?

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Madam Speaker, the issues surrounding youth employment are very worrisome. However, I would like to talk instead about the jobs of tomorrow for young people, with the artificial intelligence revolution replacing more traditional jobs, especially in the service sector.

Should the government not be implementing economic strategies to ensure that we have jobs for the future?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the implications of artificial intelligence demand careful consideration. That being said, the unemployment rate in Canada is much higher than unemployment rates in other countries facing the same realities created by the development of artificial intelligence.

We are in a similar situation in the technology field. The unemployment rate is much higher. The problem here stems from the immigration system and government policies, and that is limiting the economic response.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, the employment rate and the unemployment rate can be measured separately. They are not the same thing. It has been remarked upon that Canada has the worst employment rate in more than 25 years. I wonder if the member could comment on the employment rate.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the employment rate is the percentage of young people in total who are employed. It is different from the unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of young people in the workforce who are not working. We are seeing historic lows in the employment rate. The percentage of young people in the 15 to 24 age bracket who are working is at its lowest level in more than 25 years. This indicates that unemployment is at about a 15-year high. It also indicates that many young people are, in many cases, giving up.

There is a lot of frustration with what they are facing and there is an increasing sense of hopelessness, so we are trying to offer young people hope. We are trying to say that a better future, with jobs, homes and hope, is possible. This is why we put forward the Conservative youth jobs plan, which would deliver hope and create opportunities if it were implemented.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora—Kiiwetinoong, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in debate and speak to this very important topic. I want to thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for being so gracious as to share some of his time with me and for his important work on this issue throughout the course of this Parliament so far. I know that young Canadians from coast to coast to coast are thankful for the work he has been doing to shine light on this very important issue of youth employment.

I want to start by looking at the economy as a whole after 10 long years of the Liberal government. The labour market is bad overall, especially for young Canadians. As it has been mentioned in debate, Canada presently has the worst employment rate in more than 25 years. As an extension of that, in the short period since the Prime Minister took office, nearly 48,000 more Canadians have had to turn to EI to make ends meet.

We are here talking about the impact on youth and young Canadians. I am still in my twenties. There are a few of us here in our twenties across all parties in the chamber. As an aside, it is great to see more young people getting involved in politics. Given my age, I bring a personal perspective to this.

Many friends and folks my age, not just where I live in Kenora but right across northwestern Ontario and across Canada, have shared their concerns with me about struggling to make ends meet and struggling to find a job. In the region I represent in northwestern Ontario, there are a lot of seasonal businesses, tourism businesses and industries that are driven by youth employment and seasonal employment, which are becoming harder and harder for young people to find. It is also harder for employers to fill those jobs.

The youth unemployment rate is nearly 15%. This is the highest it has been since 2010, outside the COVID-19 pandemic years. Over 460,000 young Canadians are out of work in Canada today. These levels are typical of a recession. Young Canadians are facing quite stark numbers. If we look at Ontario alone, more than 17,000 youth lost their jobs in the last month. These are just some of the numbers that paint a very clear picture of what young Canadians are facing.

Underemployment is also a concern as folks get their schooling and their training. We know that one in six people with post-secondary credentials is not working in a job related to their field. They are doing everything right. They are working hard, getting a good education and getting some job training, and they are unable to find work in the profession they chose.

We have said many times that the promise of Canada is that people work hard, play by the rules and go to school and get an education or an apprenticeship, and at the end of it, they can expect a well-paying job, a good home and a safe neighbourhood. That is the Canadian promise that so many people have come to expect. That is the promise that has been broken after 10 years of the Liberal government.

I was recently in Toronto with the Leader of the Opposition and many other members of our caucus. We had a great turnout, with hundreds of students and young people from around the GTA coming out to share with us their concerns and what they are facing. Many people are struggling to afford the cost of living, find housing, pay their rent or move to home ownership, which many people have given up on after 10 years. We heard time and time again that more and more often, the fact is that people cannot find a job.

I think back to when I was in school in Thunder Bay. I worked two or three jobs at a time and I paid my way through school. It was relatively easy. My friends and everyone we knew would get a new haircut and walk into an establishment with a smile and a good attitude, and we pretty much expected to come away with a job. It was very easy for young people to get a job at that time.

As I mentioned, I was only 27 years old. It was not that long ago that one was able to do that in this country. After the Liberals' economic record, that story is one that is foreign to most young Canadians across the country.

I spoke about those conversations in Toronto with the Leader of the Opposition, when we heard from students. Of course, this is impacting youth. It is not just about the fact that they are unable to get jobs. I mentioned housing. The economic record of the Liberal government has led to the doubling of housing costs, and so many young people are struggling to afford rent. They are living with their parents and trapped in their basement, so to speak, and so many of them are facing the consequences as a result of that. They are worried that they will never be able to save enough for a down payment. They have given up on their dream of home ownership. People are putting off starting a family.

I know many people who live in Kenora who have good jobs, couples who live in one of their parents' houses, because they cannot find an affordable place to live with two good incomes. That is having an impact on their life decisions, including starting a family.

Of course, grocery costs are up 4%. Food inflation is up 4% year over year in September. That is something that everyone is facing but it is something that, in particular, young Canadians are facing. They do not have a lot saved up. They do not have a lot of time to work when they are going to school. On the weekends and in the summer months and in the time that they do have, and this is what we are talking about here today, they are unable to find those jobs.

This is the Liberal track record. The Liberals have driven investment away. They have smothered small business with higher taxes and red tape. They have refused to align training and immigration with labour market realities, and now the Prime Minister, after all that, is telling young Canadians that they need to make more sacrifices.

I can assure members that the Leader of the Opposition and I heard this past weekend in Toronto, from hundreds of students, that young Canadians are not going to make any more sacrifices for the Liberal government. They have sacrificed enough. The have sacrificed the dream of ownership. They have sacrificed a healthy diet. They have sacrificed starting a family. They are now sacrificing jobs. They are saying that enough is enough. They are looking for the government to finally deliver an affordable budget that can give them an affordable life.

That is why Conservatives are bringing forward our plan to help, to unleash the economy by repealing anti-resource laws, cutting taxes to drive reinvestment and eliminating red tape.

We also need to fix immigration by fixing credentialed recognition, by realigning immigration with labour and housing market realities, and by fixing training. Federal student aid should no longer treat all studies the same. That is why Conservatives are proposing that the Canada student finance assistance program provide more support to students pursuing in-demand fields. We believe that taxpayer investment in education should prepare youth for jobs, very simply.

We have to build homes where the jobs are, a very simple concept. Housing is an obstacle to hiring in northwestern Ontario. That is why Conservatives are proposing a 100% writeoff for companies that build workforce housing. This is happening all over the place, such as with the hospital in Kenora and the A&W. There are so many businesses, across all sectors, that are looking to have their own housing to house employees, because otherwise they are not able to get anyone to work.

People would move to northwestern Ontario. Why not? It is a beautiful region. There are lots of lake life and outdoor activities. There are good jobs but no houses. I know people who have nowhere to live but who could fill those jobs.

In conclusion, Conservatives are the only ones who are standing with a plan to deliver jobs, homes and hope for the future generation. We are going to continue fighting so that young Canadians, and everyone across our great country, can have an affordable life, so that we can restore that promise of Canada for all Canadians.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, this afternoon, we were supposed to be debating Bill C-4, which talks about giving a tax break to Canadians, 22 million Canadians, many of them, obviously, youth. It would also provide a GST exemption for first-time homebuyers. In many ways, that is for youth.

Rather, the Conservatives have made the decision to filibuster here on the floor of the House, preventing debate on important pieces of legislation that would literally put money in the pockets of young people today.

Why was there that political decision to put youth off today?

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora—Kiiwetinoong, ON]

Madam Speaker, only the Liberals can look at an important discussion such as this as a filibuster. We are here talking about youth unemployment, something that is reaching record highs, because of 10 years of Liberal economic mismanagement.

The member speaks of all these policies. It is the Liberal policies that have caused this crisis in the first place, that have doubled housing costs and that have made it so that young Canadians cannot find work and are struggling just to afford healthy groceries.

Conservatives are going to continue fighting for Canadian youth, so that we can restore the promise of Canada for all Canadians.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, I am hearing from young people that many of them feel they are worse off than their parents' generation were in this country, especially after 10 years of the Liberals. We see continuing policies that limit economic growth and that have messed up our immigration system; we see misalignments in training and other areas. That is why we need jobs, homes and hope for youth. That is why we put forth our constructive Conservative youth jobs plan.

I wonder if the member can share what he is hearing from the young people he talks to, especially in his region in northern Ontario. I know he is very active in and around his constituency. What is the dynamic there in terms of young people's perceptions of the opportunities they have and will have relative to the opportunities that their parents had?

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora—Kiiwetinoong, ON]

Madam Speaker, there is no question that young Canadians know they are worse off than their parents were and their grandparents were. I hear from youth, and I hear from their parents as well, that life has become so unaffordable. It is almost impossible to find a house in northwestern Ontario at an affordable price. Houses are being sold before they even make it to the market, because of this housing crisis that the Liberals have caused. There is the cost of groceries and gas, everything is more expensive, and now so many young people are unable to find work and pay for all of this. It has gotten to the point that so many are just fed up. They want to give up, quite frankly. They just want to concede that they are going to live in their parents' basement forever and that they are never going to achieve their dreams: start a family and have the career they want. That is why it is so important that we fight for them here in the House, that we ensure we can lower taxes on food, work, homebuilding and investment, and make sure that we are doing everything we can to support the economy and get young people that opportunity and that hope once again.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Madam Speaker, this is an issue that we have been studying in committee. I am curious as to why the Conservatives are using the issue of youth unemployment. It is a serious issue, and there are things we can do about it, but instead they are focusing the gist of their comments on immigration, linking that with youth unemployment, and blaming immigration for it. I would like to hear the member's take on this.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora—Kiiwetinoong, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do not know if the member heard my comments properly, but I am actually blaming the Liberals, after 10 years of their economic mismanagement, for the youth unemployment crisis, and that is exactly what has happened. It is the Liberals who have mismanaged the housing crisis, our economy and, yes, immigration. All of these things are impacting the economic foundations of our country. They are pushing young Canadians to the point that they are now out of work, unable to find a place to live and struggling to afford basic necessities. That is why Conservatives are going to fight so hard to restore the promise of Canada for young Canadians.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, to say that I am disappointed in the Conservatives is an understatement. I really cannot believe the destructive path they want to continue on. I thought things would have changed since the last election, and for a little while they did, when the former leader of the Conservative Party, who then represented Carleton, was defeated. He was not in the House as a direct result and I do not believe we had any concurrence motions. In fact, we actually had progress on substantial pieces of legislation.

Then we had the leader of the Conservative Party's return to Parliament and what has happened? It has gone back to the old days. We are seeing from the Conservatives today what we witnessed from them this time last year. Nothing has changed with them. Seriously, one would think they would have learned something.

Conservatives want to talk about youth unemployment. The first thing that came to mind was the year they alluded to, which was 2010. What happened in 2009? We saw probably one of the highest youth unemployment rates that Canada has seen in the last 25 or 30 years. Who was the prime minister back then? Of course, it was Stephen Harper, and the leader of the Conservative Party was one of the individuals who sat around the Conservative caucus. What was the difference in the arguments they were using back then compared what they are saying today? Back then, in 2009, when we had that high youth unemployment rate, they no doubt tried to defend it the best way they could. I remember in 2011, I believe it was, or maybe 2010, when we were sitting in opposition, talking about young people not being able to leave their homes because of Conservative mismanagement of the economy. Was it any wonder back then?

The most devastating time period for Ontario's manufacturing industry was when Stephen Harper was in government, when the leader of the Conservative Party sat in the Conservative majority and minority governments that devastated Ontario's manufacturing industry. There was higher youth unemployment back in 2009 than we have witnessed in the last decade.

I noticed that a couple of the Conservatives are likely doing a Google search to make sure that my number was right. I am sure they will stand up and let me know if it was wrong.

I can say this. Members should listen to what Conservatives are arguing today. I did not know; I thank my colleague from Trois-Rivières, who told me what had taken place at committee. It is part of their leader's desire to make the immigrant community the bad guys. They are targeting immigration and trying to give a false impression that the national government is the one to blame when in fact it is a whole lot more complicated than that. We set the number for permanent residents. If only the Conservatives truly understood.

Let us talk about Ontario. What took place in Ontario was an explosion of private post-secondary facilities and a massive recruitment of international students. That was being driven at the provincial level through post-secondary facilities. The colleges and the provinces did not have any problem whatsoever collecting the double tuition fees being charged for international students. Many international students were in fact exploited and given false commitments with respect to what would eventually happen with their applications and coming to Canada.

It is a much more difficult situation than the Conservatives try to portray. To say that Ottawa is totally to blame here is false. We have to factor in such things as funding to post-secondary institutions, recruitment measures that were taken by post-secondary institutions and the way in which international students were brought into Canada over the last number of years. Yes, there are things that Ottawa could have done. We have recognized, under a new Prime Minister, a commitment to stabilizing the immigration file.

I raise this issue only because I do not like what I am hearing from Conservative Party members and their far-right, anti-immigrant views that they want to express in order to generate support. That is something we have been witnessing more and more from the Conservative Party.

If someone wants to be genuine, to talk and contribute to a healthier debate in regard to youth unemployment, or unemployment in general, we have a perfect opportunity. We are actually going to be debating Bill C-4 this afternoon. Bill C-4 deals specifically, in part, with aspects of supporting young people here in Canada, increasing their disposable income. Bill C-4 will give a tax break if the Conservative Party of Canada will allow it to pass. It will give a tax break to 22 million Canadians. In the minds of the Conservatives, they might see that as imaginary. I can tell members opposite it is a real, tangible tax break that will put millions and millions into the pockets of Canadians in every region of the nation, including young Canadians. The Conservative Party has been filibustering the bill.

It also provides a tax break for first-time homebuyers. Who do colleagues think will get the primary attention in terms of a tax break on the GST? There will be no GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes. Who is going to be the biggest benefactor of that? I would ultimately argue it will be young people. That piece of legislation is something I would be very much interested in hearing from members of the Conservative Party. What is their position on it? We are seeing it today, in part. Tomorrow is budget day, and then there is going to be debate on the budget.

We need to deal with important issues like the tax breaks for 22 million Canadians and first-time homebuyers, not to mention putting into law the disposal of the carbon tax. Here, again, the biggest benefactors would be young people. Instead of debating the legislation and, heaven forbid, maybe even allowing it to pass, they chose not to allow that debate. Can colleagues imagine the Conservatives not filibustering and actually allowing an important piece of legislation such as this to pass? If they would do that, they would actually be helping young Canadians.

Last week they brought in another concurrence report. Every time they bring in a concurrence report, they say it is a super-duper important issue, and it has to be concurred in on the floor of the House. I agree that youth unemployment is a serious issue. We have a Prime Minister, a cabinet and a Liberal caucus that are committed to working for young people.

We will continue to look at ways to help young people, but of all the evidence that I have seen on the floor of the House of Commons, I have yet to see something positive coming from the Conservatives with respect to supporting our young people. We can highlight the contrast between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party on the national school food program.

[An hon. member]

It costs more money.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Again, it supports young people. As the member across the way says, “It costs more money.” Well, Madam Speaker, some money is worth spending, and this is one program that is worth spending on.

Here is the contrast. The Conservatives will talk about young people, but when it comes time to actually vote to support young people, they are found wanting all the time. The national school food program is an excellent example of that. We and the Prime Minister made a commitment that it will become a permanent policy of the government, a permanent program. That means we are going to be supplying financial support for a nationwide food program so that young children are not going to have to learn on an empty stomach, as they do in many cases. That is a positive.

On the other hand, number one, the Conservatives say that the idea is garbage and it is a garbage program. Number two, we often hear them say that there is no child benefiting from the program and no administration of the program. I do not understand how they come up with that. How can they intentionally, I would suggest, misguide Canadians? We know that it is feeding children.

[An hon. member]

How is feeding children misguided?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

People get upset if I say “lie” or “mislead” or something of that nature, so I cannot say that.

Madam Speaker, take a look at the program. This is a program that was talked about when I was first elected, back in 1988. I remember Sharon Carstairs, leader of the Liberal Party at the time, saying that we have to have a school program to feed children because we cannot expect all children to be able to learn on an empty stomach. We know for a fact that many children who attend public schools are going to school, and they have not had breakfast.

It is something that has been a need for decades. The government proposes it and does a pilot project. We have a new Prime Minister and the commitment that we are making it a national program, and the Conservatives say “absolutely not”. They do not like the program.

They are denying the opportunity of many young people to be able to capture the type of education that will help them in later years. They do not support the many children who go to school on an empty stomach. It is awfully hard to learn something from a teacher when one is hungry.

I used to be the education critic in the province of Manitoba. I understand the importance of the program that we have brought forward, and I am very proud that we have a Prime Minister who is now making it a permanent program. I suspect and hope that there are some progressives left in the Conservative right who will see the true value of the program and ultimately support it.

Do members remember the summer youth program? This is a program that is in every constituency and community across the nation. Again, when the leader of the Conservative Party was around the Conservative caucus, we saw a cut to that program. Not only did they have the highest stat, in 2009, for youth unemployment, but they also cut a valuable program that often contributes to a young person's being able to carry over that summer youth experience into a full-time job.

I would challenge members opposite to look at some of the details that will be coming out in the budget. They will see a number of initiatives, whether it is apprenticeship training, the promotion of the Red Seal program or ongoing support for things like our summer youth program. There are some programs in there to support young people, let alone programs like the food nutrition program or the dental program, which have really benefited young people.

Instead of having healthy debates on these types of issues that Canadians are concerned about and that the government is concerned about, we constantly have the Conservative Party of Canada on the floor wanting to play partisan political games at a great expense. A good example is that, over the last week, we have heard a lot from the government House leader, challenging the Conservatives to make a commitment to Canadians. If there is an election in December, it will be because of the Conservative Party of Canada. That is the reality.

If we are not able to pass legislation, such as bail reform or Bill C-4, which would give a tax break to 22 million Canadians and give that first-time homebuyer a GST rebate, it will be because the Conservative Party of Canada continues to put their own partisan political priorities over the interest of Canadians. I find that very upsetting.

I can tell members that not only my constituents but also, I would suggest, Canadians as a whole want more co-operation on the floor of the House of Commons. This means that if we are going to have debates, we have to recognize that at some point, legislation has to be allowed to go to committee so that it can come back and the debate continues. Ultimately, members need to work in co-operation, as we are, as a government, working in co-operation with opposition members. That is the mandate we were given.

We are going to see a budget come out tomorrow that is going to reflect the needs of Canadians. The budget is going to be a reflection of the times we are in. The Prime Minister often talks about transformative changes that are on our horizon, whether it is on the trade file or the many other economic indicators. This budget is going to assist us, as a nation, to move forward.

One of the stats I really appreciate is the stat on trade, in which 2.5% of world trade is contributed through Canada, yet we have 0.5% of the world population. We are a trading nation, and that is why we see the Prime Minister, different ministers and caucus as a whole looking at trade opportunities that go beyond the United States.

I move:

That this question be now put.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, in the member's speech, he repeatedly asserted that it was somehow because we had moved a concurrence motion, at the appropriate time, to give the House the opportunity to debate the business of a parliamentary committee and allow members to vote on it, that this was filibustering Bill C-4.

Is he aware that his own caucus colleagues spent last week filibustering Bill C-4 at the parliamentary committee, where they refused to even allow amendments to go to a vote? They did not co-operate with other parties, as this member has said they should. His own colleagues refused every amendment and filibustered an entire day to prevent even the first amendment from coming to a vote. They tried to get each amendment struck. The Speaker wisely ruled that the amendments that did pass were in order.

When it comes to machinations around the delay of Bill C-4, is the member aware that his own caucus colleagues have delayed the reporting of the bill to the House?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, would it not have been wonderful if we could have actually had that debate on Bill C-4? Hopefully we might still be able to get there because of the motion I just moved.

When we think of a committee versus the chamber, the biggest difference is that a committee can sit indefinitely. It can sit around the clock if it wants, but there is a finite amount of time here on the floor of the House of Commons. As we witnessed last year, the Conservatives used that finite amount of time to play a very destructive role on the floor of the House.

I was kind of hopeful that the Conservatives, in particular the leader of the Conservative Party, would have learned something coming out of the last election, which is that Canadians have a higher expectation of more political co-operation on the floor of the House of Commons, especially when we are talking about an important bill that would give 22 million people a tax break.

We have a finite amount of time here, and the Conservatives need to stop playing their political partisan game, because it is at great cost to Canadians.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Madam Speaker, we are hearing the Conservatives blame youth unemployment on temporary residents and blame the government for the increase in temporary residents.

I am wondering whether the member, who was in the House in 2014, remembers when the Harper government launched the international education strategy with the goal of doubling the number of international students to 450,000. Do you remember that?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

I do not, but I expect the hon. member does.

The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I do remember that there was an explosion of international students coming into Canada, but it was not because of the actions the Liberal government had taken. We have to take into consideration things such as what the leader of the Conservative Party did in 2014. We also have to take into consideration what provinces like Ontario and B.C. did in terms of the expansion of private post-secondary schools.

The demand for international students exploded. Yes, it would have been nice to have recognized it a couple of years earlier, but we also have to put it in the perspective of the pandemic.

There is a lot of blame to share, but as opposed to blaming, we should do what the Prime Minister is talking about and look at ways we can stabilize immigration into the future. That is what we are going to do.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, Liberals get really frustrated, it seems, when Conservatives raise the link between the Liberals' immigration failures and unemployment. We have highlighted a number of areas of failure that contribute to youth unemployment: their failures on the economy, on training and in many other areas, but I think Canadians and young people I talk to in urban centres, from diverse backgrounds, understand how the Liberal failures on immigration policy have contributed to youth unemployment. That is because the Liberals have not aligned our immigration policy with the needs of our economy in terms of skills and numbers.

Liberals have created an immigration policy that experts have said at committee is leading to intensifying competition for entry-level jobs. Previous governments had immigration policies that emphasized bringing in people who could fill skill gaps, while minimizing competition. It is the Liberals' failures that have led to these problems, and they have to be accountable for them.