Pierre Pettigrew

[Post-Secondary Education, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the hon. member to put that question to me.

The budget has been very, very well received precisely because education, access to knowledge, competence and skills is at the heart of it.

There are grants. The millennium fund will grant 100,000 students with scholarships of up to $3,000 per year.

We are making major improvements to the Canada student loan program. We are providing grants for students with dependants. I could go on. This is the best achievement we have made in the last three months.

[Tuition Fees, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, setting university tuition fee levels is a provincial jurisdiction. It is therefore up to the Government of Quebec to set tuition fees within Quebec.

I have already written to Mrs. Marois indicating that our government did not accept the idea of different tuition fees for citizens of this country, because equal access to these institutions was important, particularly for our francophone friends in Ontario and for our Acadian brothers and sisters in New Brunswick.

[The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working very hard on the post-TAGS environment. Mr. Harrigan produced a very healthy and very good report that will allow us to make the best decisions possible. We are consulting with the provinces right now. We are consulting with the communities, the fishers and the fish plant workers. It is very important that we address the issue the right way.

We made the announcement a long time ago that TAGS was ending in August. That is why we are now working on the post-TAGS environment.

[Job Creation, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the government is deeply committed to employment. That is why we have restored order to Canada's public finances and why interest rates are dropping significantly.

That is also why we have created the transitional job fund, which has been useful in the Atlantic provinces, New Brunswick in particular, where it has attracted private sector investments which have led to the creation of real, full-time jobs. Our priority is job creation.

[Employment, March 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, first, the figures used by the hon. member have no relation to the facts.

We talked about this earlier. We combined this reform with very practical measures for workers in regions with high unemployment, such as the transitional job fund. These are active measures to help the unemployed return to the labour market. We set up a reform that is very useful for Canadian workers.

[Transitional Job Fund, March 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, concerning the TJF, we have invested up to $93 million, which has created close to 17,000 jobs in certain regions of Quebec, including the very region of the hon. member of the opposition who spends his time asking questions.>

What I can tell you is that this is an extremely useful tool and one that is greatly appreciated. It is a program that has lasted for three years, and we on this side of the House want to keep it.

[Transitional Job Fund, March 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to hear the hon. member telling me that Mrs. Harel is the one now calling for this. I believe we are capable of making our own decisions about the TJF.

I have never said, as the hon. member states, that the TJF was intended as compensation for a disastrous reform. In fact, I never even used that term.

What I do know is that the transitional job fund has been an extremely useful tool in regions of high unemployment, in order to create the jobs unemployed people want above all else.

[Canada Pension Plan, March 16th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will look into the matter when I return to the office this afternoon. If some of the cheques have not reached our clients, this is something we will correct immediately.

[Persons With Disabilities, March 16th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, our government is moving forward on many fronts to help persons with disabilities particularly in relation to the recommendations of the Scott task force report.

Just last week we reached an agreement with the provinces to create the new employability assistance for persons with disabilities program. That program will give a clear focus to help people with disabilities integrate into the workforce.

The 1997 budget extended $30 million to the opportunities fund. The Government of Canada also invests $12 million a year in support for non-governmental organizations.

[Child Care, March 16th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, with each new budget, our government tries harder, but our commitment of $850 million this year and a further $850 million over the next two years for a total of $1.7 billion seems eminently reasonable.

It is a commitment that goes far beyond indexation at this point and that will be of significant value to low income families.