Pierre Pettigrew

[Employment Insurance, September 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as I have stated repeatedly in the House, our government is concerned by the drop in participation in the employment insurance system over the last few months and the last few years.

This tendency has existed for the last ten years. It has reached a point where I have asked Statistics Canada to tell us why the participation rate has fallen over the last few years. I hope the information we obtain will be useful to us, in October, so that we can understand the problem better and take appropriate steps to correct the situation.

[Canada Pension Plan, September 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, I cannot discuss in the House a specific point such as that being raised by the opposition member. I will take it under advisement and I will report back on it.

I can tell the hon. member that the CPP is being improved to ensure that the waiting time is shorter. We have hired people. We are training them. We are trying to serve Canadians the best we can.

[Employment Insurance, September 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for raising this very important question.

I have had the opportunity of meeting time and again with the construction workers and their trade unions. I can say that every meeting has been very helpful and very useful. We are trying to do our best for ensuring that the EI system serves all Canadians and all unemployed Canadians. This is something we continue to pursue. I am ready to meet with the construction workers as I have already done a number of times during the summer.

[Employment Insurance, September 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, one thing is certain: our government has lowered unemployment in Canada by 3% over the last few years. That is the lowest rate of unemployment Canada has seen since the early 1990s.

Our priority is to help workers return to the job market. Thanks to the Transitional Job Creation Fund, we have created 31,000 jobs so that the unemployed can go back to work in regions where unemployment is highest.

Our entire government cares about the most vulnerable members of our society and that is why our first investments in putting Canada's fiscal house in order were to tackle child poverty and help the disabled.

[Employment Insurance, September 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House that our very clear priority as a government is to ensure that our EI regime continues to serve Canadians and the unemployed in this country well.

It is important that we discuss the matter of the EI surplus, because we have managed the system well for a number of years now. We have this surplus situation. The discussion must take place in the broad context of the social programs that Canadians want, and because they deserve and want these social programs, we want them to be lasting and flexible.

[Employment Insurance, September 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that I have no intention of abdicating my responsibilities, quite the contrary. My priority is to ensure that employment insurance continues to meet the needs of the unemployed across Canada.

It is important that the government discuss the issue of the surplus in the EI fund in conjunction with all of this country's social programs. Canadians want and deserve a social safety net that is sustainable, strong and flexible, and there is no doubt that employment insurance is at the heart of our discussions and concerns.

[Fisheries, September 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opposition member's question about this very difficult issue and indeed over the early retirement package that we offered last June to fishermen in Atlantic Canada. We are well aware that we had to make very, very difficult decisions.

We have come with what I think is a fair and balanced package. We have respected in our decisions the standard age of 55, which has always been the standard age we have used for early retirement packages.

We are also directing money from other essential elements to give fishermen the tools they need to get on with their lives and to do something else.

[Literacy, September 22nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that literacy skills are crucial in order for anyone to succeed. This is why our government has increased by 30% funding for literacy since we took office in 1993.

Our government cannot do things alone. This is a responsibility for everyone to make people in Canada more aware and more sensitive to the needs of developing these literacy skills. That is the reason our government is sponsoring a number of events and festivals around the country to make people more aware of the importance of developing those skills.

[Bc Mine In Black Lake, June 11th, 1998]

I see that the Government of Quebec's local branch plant here in the House is doing a good job of passing its commitments on to us.

I have had the opportunity on several occasions to discuss this matter with Mrs. Harel, and I can state that we were the first government to act in this matter, which we have been following very closely, by making close to $3 million available to the former BC mine workers, specifically in order to provide them with as much assistance as possible in terms of training and active measures.

I am totally confident that we shall still be able to do more for the BC mine workers, in order to help them back into the work force and to improve their situation.

[Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, June 11th, 1998]

I can tell you one thing: we will set up the necessary programs to help our fellow citizens in these communities make a decent living—