House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2000, with 56% of the vote.
Human Resources Development February 28th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I would really like to know what could possibly be more accountable than making public an internal audit which said we could do a better job in a particular aspect of our business. What could be more accountable than making that information available to the Canadian public and promising them that we will fix the problem?
Human Resources Development February 28th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, there is no bluster on this side. Clearly we are taking action on this problem. If they had looked at the undertakings they would see that we are already making progress on implementing the new plan.
We are engaging an independent body of this House, the auditor general, to review our grants and contributions.
One thing we know for sure is that the member and the Reform Party will never speak out in support of Frontier College students for literacy and will never speak out in support of the Beddington Heights Community Association or the Alberta Centre on Entrepreneurship and Disabilities because the member has not even been to visit those community interests in her riding, and that is where this money is going.
Human Resources Development February 28th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, what is an insult to Canadians is what was said by the leader of that party in his opening question when he talked about wasting money. What he is saying is that it is a waste of money to support Canadians with disabilities. What he is saying is that it is waste of money to help Canadian youth who have not been able to find that very important first job. What he is saying is that it is a waste of money to help Canadians who do not have the opportunity to work while our economy is improving. That is the insult.
Human Resources Development February 28th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. The audit talked about seven large programs in my department and said that we could improve our administrative practices. We have made that information public to Canadians. We are now implementing a program that will fix the problem.
That is what Canadians are asking us to do. They have quite clearly been able to separate politics from substance and are saying “Would you please fix the problem”. We will.
Human Resources Development February 28th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, we have multiple representations from the individuals involved in this file. As I say again, it is extremely complex. The right thing to do was to call in an outside forensic audit team to do an investigation of all the aspects of this file. That is being done and we will take action on its findings.
Human Resources Development February 28th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is totally incorrect. What we have done is look at the files. The officials have identified this particular undertaking as being very complex and as such have asked for the services of an outside forensic audit team to go through all aspects of this file.
Human Resources Development February 24th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about faith. We know that this party has faith that trickle down economics will make sure that Canadians with disabilities get opportunities in the economy. We know that this party has faith that trickle down economics will make sure that young people have the opportunity of getting that very important first job. We know that this party thinks that trickle down economics will ensure that communities in northern British Columbia somehow magically are transformed into dynamic economies. We know that is not right. We take faith in the undertakings of this government to work with communities to make sure—
Human Resources Development February 24th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member gives me a chance yet again to talk about the undertakings in my department to fix the administrative deficiencies. I remind him that we have worked with outside experts, including the auditor general, to build a plan of action that is going to fix the problem in my department.
I take responsibility for that. I look forward to continuing to inform this place and Canadians on the progress in ensuring that we have strong administration of grants and contributions.
Human Resources Development February 24th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is making reference to one single organization. We have thousands of sponsors making sure that Canadians have the opportunity they need to get jobs, to get opportunities they may not have otherwise.
Is the hon. member suggesting that those sponsors are not using the money wisely? Again I say we know where the cheques have gone.
My job is to build a strong foundation of administration to support the grants and contributions that are so valuable to Canadians.
Human Resources Development February 24th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member again that this particular issue involved an employee of the company itself. The company referred it to the police and the police are investigating.
On the bigger issue here, we are talking about grants and contributions that have been extraordinarily valuable to organizations and to individuals across the country. The value of these undertakings is understood by this side of the House. Clearly it is not by that side of the House that would scrap all grants and contributions.