Kellie Leitch

[Housing, May 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear. Economic action plan 2013 renewed the homelessness partnership strategy and it renewed the affordable housing agreements. It will continue to deliver new homes for Canadians across the country.

We are very focused on ensuring that CMHC as well as our housing responsibilities are dealt with. I encourage the opposition opposite to support our budget and support economic action plan 2013 so Canadians can have a roof over their heads.

[Housing, May 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the pyrrhotite problem falls under provincial jurisdiction.

In August 2011, the Government of Quebec launched a provincial program to provide financial assistance to owners dealing with the damage caused by pyrrhotite.

People who are concerned about pyrrhotite should simply contact the Société d'habitation du Québec.

[Ethics, May 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the government has a responsibility to inform Canadians about the programs and benefits available to them. For example, this year, the government is implementing new measures to help Canadians, including the new Canada job grant, in order to help Canadians get training so they can find a job or find a better job. The government is promoting these measures because it wants Canadians to take advantage of them.

[Employment Insurance, May 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we are consolidating EI processing to make the system more efficient and effective for Canadians. Third-party groups will continue to be able to advocate on behalf of their clients. We are looking at ways to ensure that they would continue to do so on a timely basis. Canadians will continue to receive the same service that they always received and that they should expect from Service Canada.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we have an untapped wealth of 800,000 Canadians with disabilities who can fill a number of different roles, let alone a number of young people across the country seeking their first opportunity for employment. We want to provide hands-on, on-the-job training experience to as many young Canadians as is absolutely possible. That is why we have moved forward with the youth employment strategy.

I appreciate the question from the member opposite. I encourage her, just as I have all members in the House, to actually make sure that employers in her riding are well educated about the report from the panel on labour market issues regarding persons with disabilities, because she can better integrate those Canadians into her workplace.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, this is actually a committee of the House of Commons, not of the government. At our committee we have a very fair and open process. Any individuals whose names are put forward to come to committee, we actually accommodate everyone.

I would encourage the member in the future, if she would like to have someone come forward, to please speak to the members who are on our committee because we would be delighted to hear from them. Their names were never put forward, but I can say that we listened to people from all over the country. They gave great testimony and we were able to put forward this great report that all members invested a significant amount of time in.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this government has actually been very focused on ensuring young Canadians have opportunities for jobs. That is why we put forward the youth employment strategy, a $300 million program, which was augmented in last year's budget, as well as another 5,000 paid internships, as I mentioned in my speech. The member opposite may not have heard that. There are also a number of other items that employers and employees have spoken to me about, whether that be the Canada jobs grants, for which any Canadian will be able to apply. These are great opportunities for Canadians.

If the member opposite would like to talk about government spending, the Liberals cornered the market on that before 2006 when we were elected. I encourage him to think again about those numbers. I do not think he wants to get into that debate.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech, we are providing significant funding in economic action plan 2013 with regard to labour market information, in fact $19 million over two years to ensure that Canadians are best informed of where there are in-demand jobs.

I think the member opposite knows that there has been a sunsetting of the sector councils. We do have an opportunity for them to apply for funding. If this organization is as excellent as the member states, and I am sure it is, then I encourage it to participate actively in that process.

We have been very clear. There are a number of in-demand jobs available and we want to best link young Canadians, individuals with disabilities and individuals looking for jobs with those opportunities. We have provided substantive funding in the budget to do just that.

The opposition, though, has already stated it is voting against that.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address this concurrence motion, the report from the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, entitled “Labour and Skills Shortages in Canada: Addressing Current and Future Challenges”.

The report is in perfect harmony with our government's policies on skill shortages. This is something that I have heard a significant amount about in doing cross-country consultations with regard to the Canada jobs grant. We also even heard about some of that this morning in committee.

Since 2006, the government's top priority has been jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. We have good reason to be proud of our performance in this area. The numbers speak for themselves.

Since the worst downturn of the recession, over 900,000 net new jobs have been created, mostly private sector and full time. In fact 90% of them have been in the private sector and full time, with over two-thirds in high-wage industries.

Canada's economy has done well, but it still can do better. There are currently thousands of jobs available across the country that continue to go unfilled and too many Canadians are still looking for work. This has serious consequences for our country's economy and for Canadians' standard of living.

For example, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in its top 10 barriers to competitiveness has once again identified skill shortages. As opposed to what the opposition likes to say, skill shortages is one of the number one obstacles to success of its members. Meanwhile we have segments of the population that are unemployed or underemployed and that would be available to fill those jobs.

Something is wrong when we have so many Canadians sitting on the sidelines, looking for ways to enter the job market at a time when employers say that they have unfilled positions. Demand is particularly great for career fields, like science, technology, engineering, mathematics and many of the skilled trades, which require exactly those same skills in math and sciences. These shortages will only become more acute over the coming years as we see more and more baby boomers retire.

Canada's economic action plan 2013 has a three-point plan to ensure that skills training is aligned with the needs of the job market, something that the opposition members state they are voting against.

First, we are introducing the Canada jobs grant to get employers directly involved in skills training decisions so they know exactly where there is a job so we can skill someone for that job, something I heard about from employers and employees all across the country last week when I was running round table consultations.

Second, the plan will create more opportunities for apprentices, something we have heard about at our committee.

Finally, it will provide support to groups that are under-represented in the job market.

Let me focus a little more on the range of measures we have announced in economic action plan 2013.

Given Canada's demographic trends and especially our aging population, skills and labour shortages will only get worse until we find a way to use the country's untapped talent. I am talking about capitalizing on the potential of groups that tend to have the highest rates of unemployment, such as Canada's young people and individuals with disabilities.

Many young people are graduating into unemployment or underemployment and that is because of a lack of skills that employers are actually seeking. There is a mismatch. Young people start to make career and education decisions as early as grade seven. By the time they finish high school, they have already formed their ideas of what is or is not actually the career for themselves. We need to help them get better information at an earlier age.

We need to help them understand where the jobs really are in Canada and where they are not, something we spoke about during the course of this committee's discussion on this exact report. These echo what the committee heard from those who were interviewed.

We know on-the-job experience is just as important as training and our apprenticeship programs are working well.

However, there is room for improvement, particularly when it comes to better credential recognition. That is why we are working to put forward, with our province and territorial partners, an ability to harmonize requirements for apprentices.

We are also going to examine the use of practical tests for methods of assessment. We will promote the use of apprentices in federal contract work, for things such as construction and maintenance of affordable housing and infrastructure projects, something that was specifically asked of us at committee.

Economic action plan 2013 will invest significant funds over two years to give Canadians access to better labour market information, exactly what I was mentioning before, providing young people in particular the opportunity to know what is available and where and where it is not and develop new outreach efforts to promote careers in high-demand fields, where jobs are available for them to fill.

For example, our young people need to become better informed about career opportunities in the skilled trades and how good wages actually exist. Having grown up in Fort McMurray, Alberta, I know that many of the individuals there, who are skilled trades individuals, have an acute idea of exactly what a good wage is and they are doing particularly well, whether that is working for a large firm or a small firm or moving on to create their own firm as an entrepreneur.

Skilled trades are an excellent opportunity for young people and it is not just apprentices who would benefit from this budget. There is another 5,000 paid internships that will be made available over three years for recent post-secondary graduates, ensuring they have on-the-job training that not only employers but employees have talked to us about so they can make the transition into the workplace.

Our economy needs the skills, talents and amazing spirit of our young people, but we also need the skills, talents and amazing spirit of Canadians with disabilities. Any vision of future growth and prosperity in Canada would be incomplete without considering the contribution that people with disabilities can make.

I would like to remind the House that economic action plan 2012 announced the creation of the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. Its mandate was to identify private-sector successes and best practices and increasing the labour market participation of persons with disabilities. In its January 2013 report entitled, “Rethinking Disabilities in the Private Sector”, the panel estimates roughly 800,000 working-age Canadians who have a disability are unemployed. Imagine how they could help address the skills shortages that employers have across the country.

The panel argues that there is a good business case for hiring individuals with disabilities and the report sets out practical steps that can be taken to recruit individuals with disabilities and support them in the workplace. The panel found that many workplace accommodations required for employees with disabilities cost little to nothing and organizations that already employed persons with disabilities reported they have significant benefits, both in terms of company culture and their bottom line. From personal experience, working in clinics and talking to the parents of young adolescents who have cerebral palsy or talking with patients who have disabilities, these are exactly the things we need to be doing moving forward.

Our government is doing its part to get more people with disabilities into the workforce. Budget 2013 announced significant investments for a new generation of labour market agreements for persons with disabilities. The reformed agreements to be introduced in 2014 would better meet the needs of Canadian businesses and improve the employment prospects for individuals with disabilities.

Budget 2013 also proposes ongoing funding for the opportunities fund to provide more demand-driven training solutions for persons with disabilities. Budget 2013 would make permanent the annual funding for the enabling accessibility fund to support capital costs of construction and renovations to improve physical accessibility.

Economic action plan 2013 also proposed the creation of a Canadian employers disability forum to be managed by employers for employers. This forum will facilitate education training, the sharing of resources and best practices with regard to the employment of individuals with disabilities, something that I would encourage all members of the House to inform their businesses about and to become active in.

When I was British Columbia last Friday, a number of employers stated they had not necessarily heard what the great results were of this report. I encourage as many business leaders as possible across the country to look up this report and read the recommendations. If they have questions, they should approach individuals who can give them some direction on education and what we can do in order to aid individuals with disabilities entering into the workforce.

The budget provides enhanced funding for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, some of which will support research on labour market participation of Canadians with disabilities entering into the workforce.

Lastly, I will comment on the cross-country consultations that the Government of Canada is doing with respect to the Canada jobs grant and temporary foreign workers. Having been in Regina, Calgary and Vancouver last week and later this week in St. John's and Halifax and other places in the country in the near future, we are listening to Canadians because we need their input and are asking for their input on how to ensure these are the most effective programs and skills training programs for Canadian businesses, employers and employees. We want to ensure we are linking Canadians to available jobs, those that are in demand, and that they have the information available to them so they can make great decisions with respect to their future career opportunities.

I appreciate the time to speak to this concurrence motion. The skills and training initiatives in economic action plan 2013 will enable more Canadians to contribute to the economy and share in our growth and prosperity across the country. Therefore, we are happy to concur with the report from the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I know I do not usually have a podium like the Leader of the Opposition, but today I just felt I needed to have one. However, I greatly appreciate your looking out for me, sir. I guess I should be just a little more direct.

I appreciate the comment from the member opposite with respect to the recent report put forward by our committee. We heard throughout the committee's deliberations on the issue about skills mismatches and about absolute shortages in certain fields and certain sectors.

Maybe the member could comment on where she believes those absolute shortages are in the country and where we need to be focused with respect to those absolute shortages, which I could comment on. Maybe the member opposite could comment on where she sees those absolute shortages in the country and where we should be focusing our efforts.