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Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, we meet with a lot of people. I meet with a lot of people and so do my officials. I do not divulge the details of my personal meetings because many of the people with whom I meet regard them as private meetings and I respect their privacy. I think that is only fair and reasonable.
I can tell the member that we did have a round table in September here in Ottawa with officials and my office.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, as I said, the funding is there this year. We have increased the funding by $37 million. The member asked where she could see that. It is on page 96 of the RPP. She can feel free to look it up there.
We are under an obligation in the House to tell the truth. If I were to tell the hon. member about some program for next year that has not yet been decided on, that would not be the responsible thing to do in the House, nor would it be a responsible thing to inform Canadians of. We are evaluating the program while we are delivering it and we are looking for even better programming, if that is possible.
I expect that the hon. member, given the number of times she and her party criticized previous Liberal programs, would like to see us try to improve help to homeless people because they need it and deserve it.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, I think we are working at cross-purposes here. This evening we are here discussing the estimates for this year's spending, not next year's. Next year's program spending has not yet been determined. The hon. member has received numerous assurances that we are going to continue with supporting the homeless. We just have not decided how yet.
We are trying to improve upon this program if it is possible, but we are funding numerous programs right across the country, good programs such as the Native Men's Residence shelter facility in Toronto and the Helping Spirit Lodge Society in Vancouver.
The announcements I made recently were just four examples of many, many good programs that are going on across the country, programs that I would like to see continued. I want to make sure that we are supporting those programs in the best way possible. When we prepare the numbers for next year, those numbers will be included.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, the reason these numbers do not appear in the RPPs is, as I explained, the decision has not yet been made whether to continue with SCPI or with some other program that would be even better in helping the homeless.
As I have explained several times this evening in fact, we are looking at SCPI. We are using it, because we want to make sure that there is programming, but we also want to take this opportunity to see if there is something better. I would hope that the hon. member would be all for improving the existing programs.
As for the second part of her question, we did announce recently four new projects that had been funded. As the member knows, SCPI is allocated on a project basis. Those are four of many programs that have been funded and approved lately. The money is flowing. All of the money that was originally allocated to this program is still available, plus we have added $37 million in additional funding that was unspent by the previous government. That money is available too.
There is a process through which projects have to apply for funding. It works its way up from the local level to us and once agreements have been signed, the money flows. Nothing has been changed in the process since the Liberals ran it before.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for his fine words and his generous words.
I would like to share a little information about women building futures, a new program to which I referred a few minutes ago. We have invested over $3.4 million from the Canada-Alberta affordable housing program and another $850,000 from Western Economic Diversification in a program that is going to help women succeed in the construction trades. It is going to help hundreds of low income women prepare for entry into construction related jobs and apprenticeships.
We are really excited about this program because it gets women out of the traditional thinking and into jobs where they may not have been historically. That is a good thing. We all need to broaden our horizons that way. In fact, the program will allow 400 women each year to access the 16 week journeywomen start program which will provide apprentice ready employees to the construction trades. It actually goes beyond that. This will allow them to expand their programs--
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, the planned spending reflected in the RPP is $79.7 billion. That is up $4.9 billion over 2005-06. Of that increase, there is a $3.6 billion increase in statutory payments, an increase of $1.1 billion in the Canada pension plan, an increase of $220 million in other statutory payments and an increase of $158 million for planned employment insurance account benefits and administration spending. There will be an increase of $71 million in consolidated revenue operating expenditures and an increase of $24 million in voted grants and contributions. These increases are going to be offset by net decreases in other programs.
We are very pleased with the proposals with which we are going forward because they are in the best interests of all Canadians, providing benefits and value for money spent.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for that fine presentation of some of the things that Canada's new government is doing to promote the skilled trades and participation in them.
What he did not mention was that we did all this within the first 100 days of taking office. We are investing over $500 million in these bold new initiatives to encourage people to become apprentices, and we anticipate to take up to 100,000 apprentices between these two programs. That is really a good start.
We have just announced another program for which we are providing support. It is women building futures. It is in conjunction with the Canada-Alberta affordable housing program and Western Economic Diversification.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, all existing commitments are going to be honoured when it comes to literacy. Programs that are currently receiving money will receive it until the end of their term because this is important to us.
Going forward, we are going to be exercising more stringent control over projects that are funded, for the simple reason that we want to make sure we are targeting our national priorities, getting value for money and funding programs that achieve real results.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, one of the things we want to do when we create these spaces is make them sustainable. That means having qualified people working within them. We are working with the various programs. We have several within my department that help aboriginals learn.
I was speaking with a group a few months ago. We are looking at a partnership where we could do just what the member is suggesting within the context of creating new child care spaces. These people are really excited because they believe that the $100 a month aboriginals are receiving for their children under the age of six through the universal child care benefit will go a long way to help them.
Business of Supply November 1st, 2006
Mr. Chair, in fact we are working to find the best way to create spaces on reserve and off reserve for aboriginals. That is part of the mandate that has been assigned to the ministerial advisory committee on the space creation initiatives. I am looking forward to seeing the results of those consultations.