Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to the hon. member, it is something that is an unacceptable number. It is something we need to do better at and we will continue to look to find ways of doing better.
House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 33% of the vote.
Poverty November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to the hon. member, it is something that is an unacceptable number. It is something we need to do better at and we will continue to look to find ways of doing better.
Poverty November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the rate of child poverty is certainly an unacceptable one. We have worked on it. The state of the economy in the last number of years has helped. The child tax benefit has helped. The national child benefit has helped. We hope that the national early learning and child care initiative will also help, but we also need to do better.
Social Programs November 16th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, we have been meeting with the provinces and territories. The matter of funding was not discussed. It is a matter that will be coming up at subsequent meetings.
Older Workers November 5th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that older workers who are laid off have more difficulty finding new work. On May 11, 2004 we announced that an additional $5 million in federal funding has been offered to the provinces and territories that participated in the older workers pilot projects initiative last year.
Since 1999 the Government of Canada has invested $50 million for the older workers pilot projects and $22 million for 67 projects in Quebec to assist older workers. In Quebec 23,900 jobs have been created this year so far for workers aged 55--
Child Care November 5th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the answer is the same answer to the same question: that as Monsieur Béchard said, the question of funding was not discussed and there will be another meeting in January and all the provinces will be there. I am convinced that as we did in September we will be able to find an agreement with the Government of Quebec.
Child Care November 5th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Béchard said earlier, the question of funding was not discussed at the meeting and this was the beginning of a process. There will be another meeting in January. All the provinces will be at that meeting, and Quebec will be at that meeting as well.
We had great success in September with the health accord, and I am convinced we will be able to find an agreement with the government of Quebec.
Child Care November 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, with regard to our official languages, I know how important it is for young children to have learning experiences in their first language when they live in linguistic minorities in this country.
I can assure the member that these communities will be an important part of a new national child care system.
Child Care November 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as I said to the hon. member, we agreed on the principles of the program. In terms of the funding, that is something we did not discuss. That will be for a later discussion and the meeting is in January.
Child Care November 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as I said to the hon. member a short time ago, we did not come to an agreement. We agreed on some very important principles in terms of a national child care system. We agreed collectively to go ahead with a national child care system. We agreed on the principles of quality, universally inclusive, accessibility and development. We agreed to work together to develop a 10 year plan. We agreed on those things.
Social Development November 1st, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am not quite sure what the final question was.
I think the question related to the discussions that will be happening in the next couple of days. He should allow those discussions to work themselves out. We are working in collaboration with the provinces. We need to work very closely with the provinces and territories toward a national child care system which is, as the hon. member knows--