Mr. Speaker, last year those same members of the Bloc Quebecois were telling us that employment insurance reform was going to add to the welfare rolls in Quebec to an incredible extent.
Lost his last election, in 2006, with 38% of the vote.
Employment Insurance December 10th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, last year those same members of the Bloc Quebecois were telling us that employment insurance reform was going to add to the welfare rolls in Quebec to an incredible extent.
Employment Insurance December 10th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, no. I absolutely do not believe that our reform has increased poverty. On the contrary, I believe that our reform is contributing at present to the dynamism of the Canadian economy which is good news to everyone.
What I can say is that we are fully aware that this was a very important reform. That is why, within the employment insurance reform itself, we have included a follow-up process in order to gauge its impact and to ensure that, after one year of implementation, we will have a report we can discuss to see whether the reform meets the needs of Canadians.
Poverty December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, we have implemented several very important tax credits over the last several years, and, through these credits, we have encouraged a large number of players in the private sector who are associated with volunteer organizations.
In addition to encouraging and supporting soup kitchens through the partnerships that we have with volunteer organizations, we are seeking to create an environment for the economy, and this of course is not understood by our friends from the Conservative Party because of the extremely bad management that prevailed under them. We had to overcome a deficit of $42 billion. I think that too many Canadians are still having a difficult time, but there are better days ahead.
Poverty December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, poverty in Canada is a great concern to us and we are fighting against it. In fact, my colleagues, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance, announced yesterday $1.5 billion more at the community level.
Last year, my colleague at the Department of Health provided $100 million more for the Child Community Action Program. Much money has been invested in the national child benefit. We realize that more has to be done. We realize that poverty is a tremendous problem here, and we are taking appropriate action.
Poverty December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, we have just had the best six months and youth unemployment declined to 16.1%. This is the best we have had in 10 years.
Our youth employment strategy is working. Tomorrow I will be working with the Career Edge people to make sure that the private sector people do their part as well. The provinces also want to do their share. Things are going well. We are addressing it as a societal problem because they are the best educated we have ever produced.
Poverty December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I commend the Canadian Council on Social Development for the report it tabled this morning. Its information is always very useful to the government.
The member is wrong when she says that every one of those reports condemned the government. Last week Campaign 2000 indicated that the national child benefit which we were setting up was exactly the way we should be working. The Government of Canada is working on income through the child tax credit. The provinces will be delivering programs in services, $1.7 billion over the next few years. That is quite a bit.
Employment Insurance December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, for the first time since our reform of employment insurance, women leaving the labour market to care for their children will have access to active re-employment benefits to help them a whole lot more.
Employment Insurance December 9th, 1997
What I can say is that for the first time—
Employment Insurance December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, earlier the opposition was describing me as a technocrat. I have to say that I am not enough of a technocrat yet to understand the percentages of the percentages the member was referring to.
Employment Insurance December 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, women have received a large proportion of these benefits. The system was changed specifically to help the very large number of women working part time, who in a system of weeks worked were not covered, whereas they are on the basis of hours worked.
Could the hon. member tell us that there is a family income supplement to help those with children and that 67% of the supplement goes to women on employment insurance? These measures in our employment insurance reform are very favourable to women.