Pierre Pettigrew

[Employment Insurance, September 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will have to take another look at the throne speech, because there are several references to what we are going to do and have been doing for some time now. In particular, we announced a youth employment strategy, which is extremely important. We are working very hard on the unemployment issue and you know it. This strategy, which creates work experience, is doing well.

We have identified tools that worked well and we will consolidate and extend them so that the work experience young people need to make the transition from school to the work place is a very positive one. There is also the transitional job creation fund, $95 million of which has been invested in job creation in Quebec.

[Throne Speech, September 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I am always amazed by the excessive reactions we get from that side of the House. However, if they get their kicks by measuring the orthodoxy of every word, by all means, let them make a study of semantics.

What we promised in the throne speech yesterday was to let Canadians benefit from a study by Statistics Canada, for which my department is responsible. I am referring to a national longitudinal survey we have been doing for several years. Since we invest enormous amounts of money in the well-being of our children, we feel it is very important to measure their progress, so that when they go to school, they are in the best possible position to learn.

[Criminal Code, April 15th, 1997]

moved that Bill C-55, an act to amend the Criminal Code (high risk offenders), the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Criminal Records Act, the Prisons and Reformatories Act and the Department of the Solicitor General Act, be read the third time and passed.

[Transition Job Fund, April 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member had better stay on the opposition side; he would have a lot of trouble on the government side, because with economic judgment like that, one does not go very far.

The Eastern Townships are divided into two zones: in one, unemployment exceeds 12 per cent, in the other, it does not. What I would like to tell the hon. member is that the Quebec Minister of Employment is so proud and enthusiastic about this program that only yesterday she announced six job creation projects with which my department will be involved in the coming weeks-for, as you know, we hold consultations with the Government of Quebec for each Government of Canada transition fund in Quebec, in order to respect its priorities.

I would like to say that I shall be in Coaticook in the riding of Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead tomorrow, where I shall have the pleasure of announcing an investment by my department of $250,000 in the hon. member's region, which will make it possible to create 100 jobs in the Eastern Townships.

[Transition Job Fund, April 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the question from the hon. member for Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead. The transition job fund is, of course, one of the accomplishments of which this government is very proud. It is part of the employment insurance reform.

What we are doing is this: to assist people who are without jobs, in areas where there is more than 12 per cent unemployment, we help people create jobs. We are partners with other levels of government or with the private sector who are prepared to create jobs.

We have put $300 million into this fund. More than 30 per cent of it will, moreover, be invested in Quebec businesses in the years to come in order to create jobs. I admit, the 12 per cent criterion is merely an arbitrary figure. The main thing was to invest these funds in regions with the greatest need. We chose 12 per cent as the cut-off level.

[Official Languages, April 8th, 1997]

I would therefore like to say that the Department of Human Resources Development is continuing to do an excellent job in the field of training, that we are in the process of co-operating much more closely with the provinces. We are ensuring that francophone minorities in the provinces will continue to be able to take advantage of training services in the French language.

[Official Languages, April 8th, 1997]

What I said was that Canadian francophonie as a whole was of great interest and could be very useful.

[Official Languages, April 8th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, if people listened carefully, what I said recently was not that francophones in Canada protect Quebec.

[Parental Leave, April 8th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it would have been nice if the official opposition had asked me to spend all available time on settling the manpower question once and for all.

The opposition is asking me to take time off from my work on the manpower issue to discuss parental insurance, which is very important to us as well. The federal legislation is very flexible, and we have no doubt we will be able to reach an agreement.

I can assure the hon. member that the Minister of Human Resources Development is a hard worker. We will do every thing it takes to deal with these issues and update Canadian federalism to meet the expectations of Quebecers.

[Parental Leave, April 8th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Mercier should not be too concerned about the conditional aspect, since the Government of Canada is still confident an agreement on manpower will be concluded with the Government of Quebec. This has been a long-standing priority for all Quebec workers. I want to stress that as far as we are concerned, any conditions would be minimal.

To reassure the hon. member for Mercier, I would like to add that the government intends to be very flexible and is open to suggestions on parental insurance, as we are in all areas for which we are responsible.

In fact, I can confirm that our officials will meet on April 11, if I am not mistaken, for a second session to rough out the main aspects of this initiative, and we are therefore confident that we will be on target.