Jane Stewart

[Human Resources Development, March 29th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that is pre-eminently important to me as Minister of Human Resources Development Canada is to deal with the information in this audit and in all the audits that we receive.

The fact that we are doing internal audits suggests that there is an increase in control. The whole point of the undertaking before us now is to improve the controls; not to suck the information and the control back to Ottawa, but to find modern methods of comptrollership so that we can continue to provide the service which Canadians want and report to the taxpayer.

[Human Resources Development, March 29th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the hon. member has been, but indeed we received the internal audit that we are dealing with. We identified that yes, indeed, there is an issue of control and that is why we are implementing the six point plan. That is why we have the auditor general working with us to improve the system.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I reject the allegations being made by the hon. member and say again that from our point of view ensuring that 170 people continued to work at Placeteco and at Techni-Paint was the right thing to do.

They may have wanted to pull the plug there and found alternatives for those people, but I am not sure where they would have gone. From our point of view the partnership founded by this government, the Government of Quebec and by the private citizens was the right thing to do, and the people working there know that is true.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, let me say again that this file was reviewed by the highest level of officials in my department. It was reviewed in detail and it was assessed that the invoices that had been received were in concert with the transitional jobs fund program.

Indeed there were issues with this file in terms of the company itself and the associated companies, but in the end the decision was the right one because people continued to be employed and they would not have been had we not continued to support this undertaking.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, everybody is advising me to clarify that Mr. Pinard is not a Bloquiste but a Péquiste. That allows me to make the point again that in these undertakings the Government of Canada is not alone, that it is together with the Government of Quebec which appreciates these investments. Individual members provincially appreciate these investments. It is absolutely clear that the people of la Mauricie appreciate the investments because they are working.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, from our point of view again what is important is that we give people opportunities to work. I would like to quote from a recent article in La Presse :

This article says:

Since 1994, the image of La Mauricie has changed. The tourist industry has been developed and we have succeeded in changing people's defeatist attitude.

This was said by Claude Pinard, the PQ MNA for the riding.

He is no friend of this government but certainly he is a man who understands that investments in la Mauricie are important and that they are making a difference.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I only want to reiterate that it has been very clear not only to this side of the House but to people like Bernard Landry, like the Government of Quebec, like the PQ member Claude Pinard, that investments in that part of Quebec are very important ones.

In the context of this undertaking, officials have reviewed the file and found that there was no overpayment created. Again I repeat that while the numbers of employment have been up and down, today there are 170 people working and that—

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Again, Mr. Speaker, we have responded to issues on this file on a number of occasions. It has been clear that at the senior level of officials in my department this project has been reviewed. The invoices that we received clearly supported the transitional jobs fund program.

From our point of view, what was important was to make sure that the 170 people who are working in these two projects now continue to work. I cannot expect or believe that the hon. member opposite would rather have them out on the street looking for work.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, what we thought was that 20 people deserved the opportunity to be employed in this area of la Mauricie. We are very glad, as I pointed out, to indicate that 28 people are now working. In fact the average cost per job is about $10,000 which is in concert with the recommendation of the province of Quebec.

[Human Resources Development, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, it is possible the hon. member is making reference to a project called Le Baluchon, which was an undertaking to help develop the tourism industry in la Mauricie. I am glad to say that $300,000 went to this project with the expectation of creating 20 new jobs, but in fact 28 jobs were created. From our point of view that is a good investment.