Diane Finley

[Literacy, October 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians elected us, they wanted a change from the old Liberal government. They wanted a government that was going to be accountable for how well their tax dollars were spent.

That is why we have identified programs that just were not meeting the needs of the literacy groups, programs that were not helping to reduce illiteracy across this country. That is why we are refocusing our energies and refocusing our dollars in order to help improve the literacy situation while respecting taxpayers' money.

[Homelessness, October 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as we have seen with so many programs that were put in place by the previous government, they need to be reviewed. We owe that to Canadian taxpayers.

There was a former Liberal minister of CMHC who said that improvements needed to be made. We are going to deliver programs for the homeless at least as good as SCPI, and I hope better.

[Homelessness, October 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of the homeless is very important to the government. That is why one of our earliest actions was to renew the SCPI program, with $135 million, and in August we made available $37 million more.

After seven years of no changes in that program, we think we must review it and look for opportunities to improve it so that we can make it even better and more responsive.

That is $135 million for SCPI and that is not peanuts.

[Criminal Code, October 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you would find unanimous consent to see the clock as 7:37 p.m.

[Homelessness, October 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we have indicated many times our concern for the homeless, which is why we extended the national housing initiative as one of our first moves, why we made $37 million available to it that had not been spent by the previous government and why we will continue to support the homeless. However, we will not do it in the way of the government that bankrupted Ontario.

[Homelessness, October 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the one disadvantage that the hon. member has is that she does not understand government numbers because she will never be in government.

Let me explain. The numbers posted on the website reflect the allocations that have already been made. Because we are still looking at ways to improve the homelessness program, the decisions have not been made. We do not want to be premature in that. Once we have made the decisions and we have allocated the funds, they will be there.

[Homelessness, October 24th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this government cares about the homeless. That is why one of our earliest actions was to extend the national homelessness initiative, because we wanted to ensure that the needs were being met.

We also promised Canadians that we would review all programs to make sure that they were delivering value for money.

We are taking advantage of delivering these programs to meet the needs while we evaluate them and look for opportunities to even better serve the needs of the homeless.

[Older Workers, October 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, right now across this country we have too few people for too many jobs. Right across this country we need skilled workers and unskilled workers to fill the demand for Canadian products.

Unlike the Bloc Québécois members who want to write off older workers, this government wants to take advantage of their talent, their skills and their ability to contribute to Canadian society. That is why we are helping them develop their skills, develop their job hunting skills and be a productive part of this society.

[Older Workers, October 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the hon. member has his facts a little mixed up. It is in our targeted initiative for older workers.

There will be income support while these displaced workers retrain, learn skills and gain work experience that will enable them to work and contribute in the future. This is a good thing for all older workers who are displaced. It is a good thing for Canada.

[Employment Insurance, October 18th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as a new government, we are reviewing every program in every department. What we have to recognize is that Canada has registered almost record low unemployment rates, 6.4% last month. That is a miraculous achievement.

We have to focus on getting more people prepared and skilled and into the workforce. That is what we have to do. That is what we are focusing on. That is why we announced our new program yesterday to help older workers participate in the workforce, not pension them off and have them sitting outside. Let us let them contribute. Let us get everybody back to work.