Pierre Pettigrew

[Human Resources Development, October 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would like thank the hon. member for her very good question. I am glad she is reminding us that this is a task force of this government which has been promoting helping persons with disabilities.

As a government we have been moving on all fronts. As a matter of fact, the last budget announced an Opportunities Fund of $30 million per year for three years to support persons with disabilities. We have approved $70 million per year in tax measures to recognize the extra cost of persons with disabilities—

[Singer Retirees, October 27th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I understand very well the concerns raised by the former employees of the Singer company, but, as the hon. member knows, the Singer case is now before the courts.

I would repeat what I have already said to the member. The government properly managed the money it was responsible for at the time. What it cannot do is assume responsibility for a plan it was not responsible for. The member will understand that the financial consequences for the government would be considerably greater.

[Fisheries, October 23rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the government remains very preoccupied with the situation in Newfoundland and I welcome the question put to me by the Conservative leader.

I think he is absolutely right that some of these situations need to be monitored very closely. At the beginning of this month I asked one of my very senior officials, a person who is very talented, to review the post TAGS situation and its impact on the communities, the fishers, their families and on the provincial finances as well. He is supposed to bring a report back to me in December.

[Education, October 22nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to draw the member's attention to the government's youth employment strategy, which is working very well and which is beginning to produce some very interesting results.

I cannot criticize the hon. member for not having been here when my colleague, the Minister of Finance, tabled his latest budget, which contained significant measures to encourage students and ease their burden by extending the period for paying interests from 18 to 30 months and offering greater possibilities for saving in this area.

We continue to work very hard. I am currently meeting with the provinces and lenders, and we are working to give the students as many options as possible.

[Education, October 22nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I think the question has been put in a rather irresponsible way. I am sorry to hear this because this is a very serious issue. There are a lot of students who like income related repayment as an option.

This government is acting in a responsible way. Right now we are talking with all the provinces, the lenders and student associations. We are going to provide as many options as possible to help youth to go to university as long as possible.

[Closure Of Bc Mine, October 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the hon. member's question, because this is situation is of considerable interest and concern to us.

We are monitoring this situation very closely, because the region in general is going through a very difficult time at present. My assistant deputy minister in Montreal has met with representatives of the miners who have been laid off, and we have begun to look at very concrete situations and active policies to try to help them, including training, and to assist them in getting what they need to return to the work force.

[Singer Retirees, October 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the government's responsibility was simply to administer the money entrusted to it. In the situation before us we risk creating a precedent, and my responsibility as minister is to ensure that the pension plan is managed according to the relevant laws and with regard to the rights of all the parties involved.

The government cannot go beyond this responsibility right now, and this is why we are taking this action now. It seems to me the most responsible approach in terms of the country as a whole.

[Singer Retirees, October 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker we have always recognized the extreme delicacy and difficulty of the situation involving the Singer workers. And if we are today before the courts, it is not my doing. What I said was that our department would work as hard as it could to clarify the situation under our responsibility as quickly as possible. So we are not holding things up, as the hon. member knows very well.

The Singer pensioners are receiving and have received exactly the amounts due under the Annuities Act, including all accumulated interest and the benefits of a 7% rate increase.

[Employment, October 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome that question very much.

The numbers that we saw yesterday are quite interesting. It is true that Canadians across the land do have a feeling of optimism. There is an optimism out there precisely when they look at the numbers.

Indeed 230,000 real jobs have been created in the last six months, many of them for young Canadians. Just this month we lost three-tenths of a point in youth unemployment.

We have created a number of jobs. We are on the right track but more needs to be done.

[Employment Insurance, October 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, what the Auditor General's report was suggesting is that certain information might not be clear.

What I am saying, as I told the hon. member yesterday, is that the information on the employment insurance fund is, in my view, perfectly appropriate. It is already published with the federal budget. It is also published in the estimates and in the documentation provided each year when contribution rates are announced.

The information, therefore, seems to me to be crystal clear, and transparent. Technical analyses show us that attention must be paid to the results.

The hon. member ought to note also that the Auditor General had praise for—