Pierre Pettigrew

[Youth, December 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP has her numbers completely wrong.

Youth employment has risen; 31,400 more youth employed in the last three months. That is as a result of our strategy.

I will not need to push the prime minister to do his job at the next conference. I know the prime minister is very preoccupied and concerned with the situation of youth unemployment and he wants to talk partnership with the provinces. This is an issue so important that we want to address it as partners with the provinces and the private sector because this is a national problem.

[Youth, December 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it does not take very much courage on our part to actually have the kind of commitment that we as a government have had.

We have announced a youth employment strategy which is a very good program; youth internship Canada and youth services Canada. We are helping about 110,000 young Canadians a year with our present strategy.

When we look at the extraordinary results we are having with this strategy we realize that we have developed the right tools to help youth with the transition from school to work.

[Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, December 2nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, we are following the situation very closely.

We are certainly getting ready for the end of TAGS. I have already spoken out against what is being claimed as our policy regarding training for our officers. It is absolutely not the case.

I have made it very clear that one of our officials is preparing a very detailed report. The parliamentary committee also went on location to consider the post-TAGS situation in various communities and provinces. We will assume our responsibilities as a government.

[Education, December 1st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, we have the great pleasure and privilege to live in a federation. As you know, tuition fees are the responsibility of provincial governments. I am going to respect what the provincial governments do as far as they are concerned.

What I can tell the member is that we as a government have been working very hard to help the students. We are going to make changes to the Canada student loans program because there needs to be a number of changes as far as that is concerned. We have met with the student associations, with the provinces, with the banks and we are moving along pretty well.

[Employment Insurance Fund, November 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, we have implemented a major employment insurance reform. We feel that the reserve is absolutely necessary. I believe it is important that there be such a reserve.

Before we came to office, when the Conservative government was in power, the employment insurance fund went from a surplus to a deficit of $6 billion. A reserve is necessary because it reduces the need to increase premiums in a full-blown recession.

We must also see to it that we can provide benefits when they are most needed—

[Canada Post, November 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is important for Canadians to realize that this government is quite aware of the hardship that this strike is creating. The government and my department, Human Resources Development Canada, have set up 500 sites across the country for people to pick up their cheques. We made an agreement with the postal people to deliver certain government cheques and most of them have been.

Accommodations can also be made for hardship cases such as for those for whom this system has failed. This is the best system that we could provide during this difficult time.

[Employment Insurance Fund, November 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, our government has lowered employment insurance premiums four times in the past four years.

We implemented the largest employment insurance reform to modernize the system and adapt it to today's labour market. We must maintain the necessary flexibility to follow up on this reform and to react to any demand with regard to the most important reform of the past 25 years. That is responsible fiscal management.

[Employment Insurance Fund, November 28th, 1997]

—were unheard of. Our government has surpluses, while the Conservatives had deficits. We manage the employment insurance fund in a responsible way.

[Employment Insurance Fund, November 28th, 1997]

I hear the Conservative leader, who certainly does not want us to point out that he was a member of a government where surpluses—

[Employment Insurance Fund, November 28th, 1997]

No, I mentioned it because the member for Lac-Saint-Jean had opened the door.

What I can tell you—