Jane Stewart

[Transitional Jobs Fund, November 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will really have to get her facts straight.

My riding was designated as a transitional fund riding back in 1995 because the unemployment levels were very high. The average was 11.8% but spiked to over 14%. At that time there was money that was made available but the projects were not in place.

Subsequently, we have had very effective investment in my riding through the transitional jobs fund. We are now a successful community thanks to the partnership of the federal government with very focused community efforts.

[Child Poverty, November 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, let me say again that on this side of the House the issue of children and child poverty is indeed a priority, and we are taking action in this very important area. Witness the Speech from the Throne. We are doubling parental leave. There will be a significant third investment in the national child benefit.

We will work with the provinces, including Quebec, to focus on the early child development years. We have a strategy in place and we will make change.

[Child Poverty, November 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, there is no one in the House, and I do not think anyone in Canada, who does not appreciate that we have been through some very difficult times financially. We have our fiscal house in order. The finance minister has done an extraordinary job in bringing us all together.

Now that we have choices available to us again, these choices for this side of the House include children as our first priority.

[Child Poverty, November 17th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, we talked about this yesterday, but I was reminded that there is probably no one who spoke more eloquently on the issue of children than our Prime Minister in his responses.

In other venues the Prime Minister talks about wanting to do in the early part of the 21st century for Canada's children what we have been able to do as a country for our seniors. I cannot imagine a more strong commitment to Canada's children than the words of our Prime Minister.

[Employment, November 17th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, do you know what Canadians accept? They accept the fact that the government invested $300 million in the transitional jobs fund and turned it into $1.2 billion.

They accept the fact that for every dollar we put into it we leveraged $9 to create work in ridings of high unemployment across the country.

They accept that this money does not just go into the ridings of Liberal members of parliament but into ridings of members of the NDP, the Tory party, and even of the Reform Party.

What Canadians accept is the fact that our unemployment levels have continued to come down. They are now at the lowest—

[Employment, November 17th, 1999]

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. That is why, as I said earlier, we invested in the riding of the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast with moneys from the minister's reserve.

In fact that is why we invested $250,000 of reserve funding in the area of British Columbia where there was a strong need for youth employment programs.

If the hon. member would just talk to some of her own caucus members, she would find that money is in their regions and helping the citizens of those communities: young people and people who have not been able to find employment. That is what it is all about. It is a way of managing funds so that we can—

[Employment, November 17th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely none of the above.

What we find in this circumstance, as well as in other circumstances across the country including in Reform ridings, is that there are pockets of very high unemployment in particular areas.

The transitional jobs fund is precisely for those areas of high unemployment. Indeed, our unemployment levels are coming down in Brant and in other ridings where the transitional jobs funds have been used.

That is because of the approach of the government to work in partnership at the community level to focus on the issues that will make a difference for citizens in those ridings to use their skills and abilities to diversify the economy. That is what it is about and that is what is happening.

[Employment, November 17th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the transitional jobs fund was there for areas of high unemployment, to help get Canadians back to work.

In my own riding there were real challenges. If the hon. member would like to look at it, the region of Brantford was decimated by the closure of plants like White Farms and Massey Ferguson. We had an unemployment level that was extraordinarily high and not coming down.

As is the case in all regions where the transitional jobs fund has been used, Canadians are working. The unemployment levels are coming down, and the government is working with communities together to make sure that this happens.

[Employment, November 17th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, indeed the departmental resources are there for stated priorities where there are not funds available.

We have used those for a number of priorities such as youth services projects in British Columbia and in the riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, the riding of a Reform member, for the west coast railway heritage project.

These funds are there to focus in areas of high unemployment, or where we need a focus on youth services, to ensure that the programming is there for Canadians.

[Child Poverty, November 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member would just reread the Speech from the Throne she would see the government is committed to dealing with children and the issue of child poverty.

There will be a significant additional investment to the national child benefit. We will be working hand in glove with the provinces to make sure that it focuses on low income families with children.