House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 30% of the vote.
Non-Profit Organizations October 24th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, on the particulars of the case the member is asking about I can give him this commitment. If he gives us the information he is talking about, we will certainly meet with any individual, any organization, to help the unemployed, the disabled or anyone out there who needs our help to get employment. We are there on their behalf.
Give us the information. Give us the specifics. We will take a good serious look at it.
Non-Profit Organizations October 24th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I can say to the member and to everyone in the House the number one priority of the government is obviously employment of Canadians.
We will not be satisfied as long the unemployment rate is as high as it is. We continue to work every day to find solutions to problems that are very complex. For the NDP to stand and suggest that there is some sort of magic solution, some band aid program that we could put in place to deal with an issue that has been ongoing for the last 30 years to 40 years of high unemployment, is crass and unacceptable.
We will continue to put programs in place, help the unemployed, put training in place—
Employment Insurance October 24th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, when we first announced that we were going to change directions dramatically from where the Tories were in their previous terms in government, we said that we were going to make sure that there was a surplus in the EI account. We knew, as all other Canadians know, it is not a time to increase premiums when the economy is in a downturn.
If people do not accept that we should plan for a day when we might have a little more difficulty with the economy than we have today, they obviously should not be on this side of the House. I suspect they may want to stay where they are.
Employment Insurance October 24th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I am not going to stand here and pretend to speak for the prime minister and the premiers as to how they will discuss their issues.
I will say, though, that I find it somewhat humorous that a minister of the Mulroney government who jacked premiums to over $3 is now giving us lectures on why we have not reduced them lower than $2.80.
I can assure the House that with the EI fund we will do what is best for the workers, best in the long run for Canadians. That is the balanced approach this government has taken all along.
Supply October 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, the transitional jobs fund was another program that was put in place under the new EI system. That program was put in place with some $300 million to help high unemployment areas.
Because the discussion at the time was going on about the Government of Canada and the provincial governments as it relates to education and training and who has jurisdiction, we put in place a system that this member and all members should be aware of, which suggested that no projects would be approved in any province without the province's concurrence.
The member knows that Minister Harel in the province of Quebec approved all these projects. To suggest that there is some influence peddling going on when a PQ government is the one that is signing off on these particular projects, it is almost hard to believe that even a member from the Bloc would suggest that in an open forum.
In order to make this very clear, because we do this in northern Ontario as well and we have a Conservative government in northern Ontario, when we put in these particular projects that create long sustainable jobs in the particular area that we are dealing with, we at the same time put the proposal in and ask individual groups within the area to approve it or not approve it. Then it goes up the system and the minister signs off on it.
To make it even clearer for the member, yesterday the minister put a list together and put it out to the press. There were some 181 proposals that were accepted in the province of Quebec. I am sure if he takes a look at that list he will see a number of projects in his own riding. He will feel very good about the fact that those projects help individuals in his riding with long term jobs and help the unemployed. That is what the transitional jobs fund is for. It is a very good project.
Lastly I want to say one thing. This project is one of the first of its kind. Out of every dollar that is spent on a project, 80% of it is private money and 20% of it is public money. It is one of the most successful programs ever put together on average. To think that we can get the private sector to put forward 80¢ on a dollar for sustainable jobs in this country is something we should be all proud of.
For the member to suggest it is some sort of slush fund, I think he should say that outside and see how long he would last if he made those kinds of comments and accusations when nothing at this point is proven. When the RCMP does its investigation, we will go from there to see what he then has to say in the House.
Supply October 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I want to respond to the member's question and the issue as it relates to the new EI system.
I come from the same type of region as the member does. I am a little bit surprised that he continues to suggest as other members in his party have, that the new EI system does not help seasonal workers. In fact it is just the opposite. Northern Ontario is very similar to northern New Brunswick.
The new EI system allows those workers who previously could not collect EI because of the way the system worked to now collect EI. For example over 45,000 seasonal and other workers are now in the system who were not in the system when this legislation came into being.
The fact that we went to the hours based system has made a big difference to part time workers. There were approximately 350,000 people who did not quality for EI before the new system came into place, but now they do qualify for employment insurance.
I find it somewhat ironic that the member continues to suggest that the system does not have a lot of merit and that it is not an improvement over the last one. Is it an income security system like social assistance? No. It is an insurance system intended to help people who need that push. It is not intended to be an income supplement system as some members would like it to be.
The last thing I would like to say is that this is a brand new system. One of the main recommendations made by the committee was to put in place a monitoring system specifically to look at the system every year to see if there are any particular problems with it. If changes need to be made we will look at that because it is a new system and we may need to look at some changes. However the overall changes which were made are for the better and not for the worst as is being suggested.
Supply October 9th, 1997
They are not talking about the bingo scandals.
Supply October 9th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I would like to touch on one issue in the short time I have and ask the member what his beliefs are.
He touched on one particular area that is very fundamental to our system and that is the spending limits and the balance between private and public in our system.
Our friends opposite like to think that the best system is to have all private sector funding with no limits. This is one of the major faults in the American system where all the scandals occur. I have many friends in the American houses. My riding borders on the U.S. and we meet on a fairly regular basis. They tell me that the system is so bad that they have to spend almost all of their time raising funds in order to be able to compete to get re-elected. They get millions of dollars in order to compete.
I would like the member's opinion on why it would be a good system to have in Canada rather than the one we do have.
I will give you one quick example. Because of my financial situation, I could never have been elected in a system like that because I could could never have competed without the public system. I would like to know what his comments are in that regard.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act October 7th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, the accessibility of post-secondary education for young Canadians is and always has been a priority of the Government of Canada. Recognition of the importance of post-secondary education in helping Canadians build their careers is demonstrated by the Government of Canada's investment in post-secondary education through the Canada health and social transfer.
Provincial jurisdiction together with the fact that the federal transfers to provinces for post-secondary education through the CHST are provided as a block fund means that there is no direct connection between the federal transfers and provincially set tuitions. Provincial spending priorities will determine the level of funding to post-secondary education and other social programs.
While the Government of Canada does not directly influence the level of tuition fees, it does however play a major role in helping students cope with costs and in facilitating access to post-secondary education.
In the 1997 budget the government increased federal support for higher education and skills by improving interest relief and tax measures. The period of interest relief was extended from 18 to 30 months allowing low income borrowers to defer repayment. Further the government is working with interested provinces to explore the implementation of income related repayment schemes to help reduce student indebtedness.
As you can see, there are many proposals and projects on the go with the Government of Canada and the provinces and this will continue as we help students get an education in Canada.
Fisheries October 7th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I want to inform the member if he has not been reading the press in the last few days, Human Resources Development Canada announced a post TAGS review.
The intention of this review is to deal with exactly what the Reform Party asked earlier in the House. Now that we have dealt with the crisis in its early stages, we are going to be reviewing post TAGS in the next year to work in partnership with the provinces and the stakeholders to come up with some long-term solutions to the problem he asks about.