Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to talk to this motion, what the opposition has proposed and what we have already done as a government. I very much appreciate the comments of my colleague from Peace River. The fact is the opposition is not only late to the game, but in some ways it is speaking out of both sides of its mouth on this issue.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Calgary Centre for that question and for her strong local support and interest in this issue. We now have even stronger evidence that housing first is the most effective way to reduce homelessness. The Mental Health Commission report released today found that housing first rapidly ends homelessness, and it is a sound investment that can change lives.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, the fact is there have been no cuts. In fact, we have renewed our homelessness partnering strategy. What this is about is that the opposition is opposed to housing first, which is a process that helps those who are homeless and which is supported across the country.

Social Development  Mr. Speaker, I welcome that member to this file, and I want to assure her that there have been absolutely no cuts to the funding on our homelessness partnering strategy. In fact, we have renewed that funding. I would be happy to sit down with the member and explain to her how the agreements have been reached and how the funding is allocated.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong. We are very proud of our renewed homelessness partnering strategy, with a focus on housing first. In fact, Canada is leading the way when it comes to helping those who are homeless. We are known now throughout the world for what we are doing because of the At Home/Chez Soi pilot project and, from that, the Housing First initiative.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, with these changes, the EI system in every province and territory reflects the reality of the local labour market. EI benefits continue to be there for Canadians, including in areas where jobs simply do not exist outside seasonal or specialized industries. The unemployment rate in Charlottetown has been consistently lower than in the rest of the province.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our record when it comes to creating jobs. Over one million net new jobs have been created since the height of the recession. The unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the G7. That is because the government and this Prime Minister and this Minister of Finance understand budgets and finance, unlike the opposition, which thinks with pixie dust and well wishes the budget will balance itself.

Employment  And unicorns, possibly. We will stick to our plan. It is a good plan. It is getting results for Canadians.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question. The federal government has significantly reduced and restructured its proposal based on provincial feedback. Today I am very excited that the Minister of Employment and Social Development has announced that an agreement on the Canada job grant has been reached with the provinces.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, the opposition is mistaken. Our government provides assistance and support to Canada's most vulnerable citizens. We are providing support to vulnerable Canadians to the tune of $14.5 billion. What has that resulted in? It has resulted in more than 880,000 individuals and families being supported through things like our renewal investment in affordable housing, as well as our homelessness partnering strategy.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying that it was the Liberal government that stopped renewing these agreements in the nineties. These agreements are going to be completed over the next 20 to 40 years. They will be completed because the mortgages will be paid off. We all know that when mortgages are paid off, subsidies do not need to continue, and we do not keep paying the banks.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, on top of what our government has already been doing to help young people get back to work, let me tell the member what we have done in this current budget. We have created the Canada apprenticeship loan, which helps apprentices who are registered in the Red Seal trades complete their training by receiving over $100 million in interest-free loans each year.

Social Housing  Mr. Speaker, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has supported the budget that we delivered yesterday. It has seen the great things that are in that budget. On the issue of housing, we continue to work with our stakeholders and with the provinces and municipalities on this issue.

Social Housing  Mr. Speaker, if it was Mr. Layton's idea, it is very surprising, or maybe not surprising, that the opposition again voted against every form of support we have brought to help those who are vulnerable in Canada. The fact is that we have spent $14.5 billion since 2006 to help those who need affordable housing.

Intergovernmental Relations  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Employment and Social Development did indicate yesterday that he has had good discussions with his Quebec counterpoint, Minister Maltais, about involving employers in skills training. He noted the success of some of Quebec's labour market programs.