Kellie Leitch

[Employment Insurance, April 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to respond to the question posed by the member.

When it comes to the improvements we are making in employment insurance, I want to remind the hon. member that we did consult with stakeholders when implementing these changes.

We talked to people all over the country, including what he calls the resource regions.

We continue to do so. In my own travels, I regularly meet with stakeholders, including individuals, employers, employee associations, labour groups and academics to talk about the important subject of EI.

For example, in the year before the changes were announced in employment insurance, I and my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, consulted with Canadians across the country about how to improve the EI rate-setting mechanism system.

Canadians told us they need stable and predictable EI premium rates, and a transparent rate-setting process.

Every year, the minister and I hold extensive consultations across the country in advance of the budget to consult with employees, employers, and other stakeholders about many topics, including employment insurance. The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development travelled to all regions of the country on studies related to skills and labour shortages still being experienced across the country. I can assure the House that employment insurance was discussed by many stakeholders. All of these consultations were considered as part of the ongoing policy process by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

Our government strongly believes that a person is always better off working than not. Through our various initiatives to connect Canadians with available jobs, we have increased the labour market information to employment insurance recipients, including skills training, and now with the Canada jobs grant, we are providing direct support to employers to train Canadians for jobs that currently are unfilled. We are confident that under the new rules, employment opportunities will increase as many more people work, leading to greater economic opportunities.

I am sure that is what the hon. member would like to see in his own region.

The updates we have made to the EI program encourage and help Canadians to find jobs in their local area that match their skills.

Our common sense approach to EI is in keeping with our government's direction with respect to job creation, economic growth, and long-term prosperity.

[World Catholic Education Day, April 23rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to inform the House that World Catholic Education Day will be celebrated throughout the world on May 9.

In Canada, Catholic education is an integral contributor to our Canadian identity and culture. Catholic education has helped define Canadian society through its deeply rooted teaching of service to the community and the ongoing promotion of respect and dignity of all persons. The presence of Catholic education is based on the values of peace, justice and respect, values that are inherent to our Canadian identity. The accomplishments over the last 170 years of the Canadian Catholic education system, both English and French, have been an integral part of the growth and spirit of Canada.

I would like to thank the schools in my riding of Simcoe—Grey, including Father F.X. O'Reilly, Holy Family, Jean Vanier, Monsignor J.E. Ronan, Our Lady of Grace, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of the Assumption, Prince of Peace, St. James, St. Mary's and St. Paul's for their huge contribution to our community.

Congratulations to all of those involved in Catholic education in our provinces and territories as they join with their colleagues across the world on May 9.

[Volunteerism, April 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to honour the many Canadian volunteers from across the country. This week is National Volunteer Week in Canada, and I wish to extend a heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Canadian government to everyone who volunteers.

I am pleased to honour from my riding of Simcoe—Grey, David Sadlier, Sandie Macdonald, Dr. Don Paul and Major Jim Ellwood for their outstanding commitment to volunteering and for providing leadership in my riding. Their efforts certainly do not go unnoticed.

I am also pleased to speak in support of the Prime Minister's Volunteer Awards, which are awarded to individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations from across the country that give back to their communities in many ways. This group is only a tiny sample of Canada's volunteers. There are close to 12.5 million Canadians, almost half our population, who donate their time to help others. The dollar value of this work has been estimated to be over $14 billion.

I am deeply thankful for the efforts of the volunteers who make our communities better every day. Please join me in thanking them for all of the efforts they focus on and dedicate every day to help communities across our country.

[Employment Insurance, April 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this government supports families, whether it be through the children's fitness tax credit, the universal child care benefit or increases and augmentation to the national child benefit. We support families, we support parents, we support mothers. That party does not. The New Democrats have always voted against these initiatives.

I encourage them to step up when they have the opportunity to support mothers and parents, who are doing a great job. Why do they not support them?

[Employment Insurance, April 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this government is focused on ensuring that Canadians have the skills and the training they need to be able to take on the jobs that exist today. Whether that be through the Canada jobs grant, our new apprenticeship initiatives to ensure we have harmonization across the country, or an investment in individuals who have disabilities to ensure that they can attach themselves to the workplace, these are all initiatives that this government supports and has driven forward.

The New Democrats continually vote against these opportunities for Canadians. Shame on them.

[Employment Insurance, April 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the changes that we have to employment insurance are to better connect Canadians to available jobs. What we put forward in economic action plan 2013 is just that: opportunities for Canadians to gain the skills that they need to enter into the workplace.

I do not understand why the NDP continues to vote against these initiatives, whether the Canada jobs grant, opportunities for apprenticeships, or the 5,000 new internships that are available for postgraduates. I wonder why the NDP continues to talk about how it wants to create jobs but never ever actually supports an initiative to do that.

[Employment Insurance, April 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this government will take no lessons from the NDP on finding women roles in the workplace or for finding women jobs, whether they are professional women, women who are looking to become apprentices, or women who are looking to get those skills they want so that they can move out into the workplace and have a great job.

We are supporting the Canada jobs grant. We put in place a whole series of initiatives to ensure women can become apprentices. Why does the NDP not get on board and help those women find those jobs?

[Business of Supply, April 16th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I have expressed, and as many members in the House have expressed, we have concerns with respect to this program.

To the point the member made, I mentioned in my speech that one of the things we are focusing on, as outlined in the budget on pages 84 and 85, is asking applicants for the labour market opinion process to look at transitioning to Canadian workforce individuals. In other words, I mean making sure we decrease the number temporary foreign workers that firms in Canada are relying on and putting together a plan to transition to Canadian workers.

We want to be very clear. Canadians are at the front of the line. We expect firms to adhere to the principles of this program, making sure Canadians are considered. If they are not available at all, the temporary foreign worker program will be available to firms. However, part of the application to the program is making sure there is a transition plan to make sure Canadians are filling those roles.

[Business of Supply, April 16th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite said is absolutely false. The individuals who can apply for accelerated labour market opinions are actually those who have pre-qualified and have already been in the system.

Let us be very clear. I think we all know that the temporary foreign worker program is for exactly that: temporary workers when a Canadian is not available. This government has been very clear. Canadians are to have the first crack at jobs. They are to be at the front of the line. However, we still need to make sure that when employers are concerned that they cannot fill jobs and are feeling the crunch of not being able to make sure that their companies can expand, they have access to a program that allows them to prosper.

This government is very focused. We are putting Canadians at the front of the line. We encourage opposition members to get on board, support our budget, support the changes and make sure that we can provide an opportunity for Canadians to have excellent jobs and a high quality of life.

[Business of Supply, April 16th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Brampton West.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. Canadians will have the first crack at all available jobs. The original intent of the program was to help employers find temporary help in cases where there was an absolute, acute labour shortage.

We are concerned about the recent issues that have come to light and have presented a proposal in budget 2013 to fix the problem.

The temporary foreign worker program should only be used to respond to urgent and acute needs for labour in the absence of Canadians to do the work required.

Our government's priority is jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity. Among the largest industrialized countries in the world, such as the U.S., Japan and Germany, Canada has the strongest record of growth and job creation during the economic recovery. Since the depth of the global economic recession, the Canadian economy has created over 900,000 net new jobs, overwhelmingly full-time, well-paid jobs in the private sector. The economic recovery has been largely driven by the ingenuity and determination of Canadians and Canadian businesses.

At the same time, we are facing a paradox. There are labour market shortages in some parts of the country, while high unemployment rates persist in others. Changing patterns of economic growth are resulting in declining demand for skilled workers in some industries and rapid growth in demand in others. This is resulting in mismatches between the skills in the local labour force in some regions and the skills needed for new jobs, leading to shortages in some occupations that are key to the economy and prosperity.

Canada's economic action plan 2013 outlines several ways our government is addressing these challenges by connecting Canadians with available jobs.

We are acting now to equip Canadians with the skills and training they need to obtain high-quality, well-paying jobs. Unfortunately, the opposition has voted against many of these measures that help Canadians.

We announced the creation of the Canada job grant, which will establish a more direct link between training and the skills sought by employers.

The Canada jobs grant would provide up to $15,000 or more per person to provide training to connect Canadians with jobs that are going unfilled today. We are creating opportunities for apprentices by making it easier for them to get the experience they need to become journeypersons. We are providing support to underrepresented groups, including persons with disabilities, youth, aboriginal Canadians and newcomers to help them enter the labour force and find jobs.

As the Prime Minister pointed out on Friday of last week, there are businesses that have been unable to find the workers they need to function. The temporary foreign worker program is there for them only when there are absolute and acute labour shortages. The rules are very clear. The temporary foreign worker program should only be used if no Canadian worker is available to fill that job.

When employers apply to hire temporary foreign workers, they are required to advertise for set periods of time to ensure that they have exhausted all possible means to hire Canadians. Employers must first advertise in national newspapers. In addition, they are encouraged to recruit among populations facing barriers to employment, such as aboriginal Canadians, older workers, newcomers, persons with disabilities and youth.

With respect to wages, let us be clear. All employers are required to pay temporary foreign workers the same wage they are paying their Canadian workers for doing the same job at the same location.

Employers must ensure that foreign workers are covered by private or provincial or territorial health insurance. According to the employment contracts, they must register foreign workers with the appropriate provincial and territorial workers' safety and compensation boards.

In addition, we have introduced measures to strengthen the protection of temporary foreign workers and to improve the integrity of the program. Employers who misuse the program or mistreat temporary foreign workers would face stiff penalities and could even be banned from the use of the temporary foreign worker program.

While the opposition is calling for more committee study and talk, we are acting. The member for Cape Breton—Canso has been part of our large studies that have been undertaken by the human resources standing committee to look into the labour and skills shortages across the country. As part of that study, we travelled to all regions of the country, consulting with representatives, employers and workers. The message we heard was very clear: There are acute labour shortages in several regions of the country. It would be a significant waste of taxpayer dollars to repeat this work and hear similar testimony.

Because of a lack of workers and skilled workers, companies cannot grow and develop, which will slow down our economy at a time when it is beginning to show signs of recovery. And who will suffer? All of us.

That being said, we are concerned about the reports that the temporary foreign worker program has not been used for its intended purposes.

Let me focus for a moment on the actions our government has announced over the last several months. Last year, the government announced a review of the program. We also announced a stronger link between the employment insurance program and the temporary foreign worker program. This link is necessary, because many unemployed Canadians who are qualified to do these jobs sometimes do not even know they exist. Through the new job alerts program, EI claimants will be made aware of local employment opportunities on a daily basis. We also introduced legislative amendments to increase the ability of HRSDC to ensure compliance by employers.

In economic action plan 2013, we announced several reforms to ensure that Canadians will be given the first chance at all available jobs. We will increase recruitment efforts employers must make to hire Canadians before they are eligible to apply for temporary foreign workers, including increasing the length and reach of advertising. We will assist employers who legitimately rely on temporary foreign workers, due to a lack of qualified Canadian applicants, in finding ways to ensure that they have a plan to transition to a Canadian workforce over time. We will amend the immigration and refugee protection regulations to restrict the identification of non-official languages as job requirements when hiring through the temporary foreign worker program.

Finally, we are also proposing to introduce user fees from employers applying for temporary foreign workers through the labour market opinion process so that these costs are no longer absorbed by the taxpayers.

Our government remains focused on job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity. The intent of this program is to create economic opportunities for Canadians by providing employers with access to individuals with the skills that Canadians do not currently have to grow their businesses. When this happens, it creates jobs for Canadians and does not reduce them. We have committed to reviewing this program to ensure that Canadians are not displaced and that the program is living up to its original purpose, that purpose being to help employers find temporary help in cases where there are absolute and acute labour shortages.

This program was never meant to replace Canadian workers with foreign workers. Employers have to advertise before they can access temporary foreign workers. It is clear that all parties in the House recognize the need for this program, as witnessed by the letters from the NDP and Liberal MPs requesting additional temporary foreign workers in their ridings on behalf of employers, including ridings with higher-than-average unemployment rates.

By connecting Canadians with available jobs programs, we are ensuring that Canadians are aware of all available employment opportunities in their local communities.

We are concerned about the issues that have recently come to light and have presented several proposals in budget 2013 to fix this program. Unfortunately, the opposition has chosen to vote against these measures that would help Canadians. In fact, the opposition members have voted against our investments in skills training for Canadians, such as the Canada jobs grant, so that Canadians can fill in-demand jobs. Instead, they are proposing to spend more of taxpayers' dollars so that we can talk further about something the government has already committed to fix.

I would encourage the opposition to actually get behind the G8-leading economic leadership that has been shown by Canada and our Prime Minister, leadership that has resulted in over 900,000 net new jobs here in Canada since the downturn of the recession. I would encourage the opposition to join with us in voting against this motion and to support the actions proposed by our government to fix this program, as outlined in the budget and economic action plan 2013.