Employment  Mr. Speaker, help is finally on its way. We are proud to have doubled the funding and the positions for Canadian students this summer. Over 35,000 new jobs are going to be added, and those young people will have the experience they need to get into our workforce.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, this is a very sensitive case. Individuals are going through an investigation. It is ongoing, and I cannot comment.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, employment insurance has failed Canadians. The number of working Canadians that are eligible to receive employment insurance declined year after year under the previous government. It is important for us, and we have committed to do so, to review the whole program to

Labour  Mr. Speaker, the consultation period on the issue of paid interns and unpaid interns has just concluded. It is important for us to see what Canadians say and think on the issue. It is also important for us to establish a regulatory framework that is going to protect those people

Labour  Mr. Speaker, it is our intention to end all abuse to interns. Secondly, the conclusion of the hearings was when this organization decided to withdraw. The consultations are over and it is our intention to end the abuse of interns.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to clarify an earlier answer I gave to the House, that our plan is to cut the waiting times for benefits from two weeks to one week—

Employment  Mr. Speaker, we have been working since the day we were elected on fulfilling the promises we made. We want a system of EI that is going to be there when people need it and where they need it. We promised to lower premiums, cut benefit wait times from two weeks to one week, and i

Employment  Mr. Speaker, I could not hear myself think because it was so noisy on the other side. The best opportunity that we have to take care of unemployed people is a robust economy, and that is exactly what we are going to do with the infrastructure investments that will be rolling out

Employment  Mr. Speaker, as members of the House know, we have been working on modernizing the EI system to try to respond to those very people who are losing their jobs because of this crisis in the natural resources sector. The best opportunity for the unemployed is actually—

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that recognizes the importance of the union movement, historical and present, as it continues to contribute valuable knowledge and insight to us as a government. I am sure that it tried to co-operate with the previous governmen

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, I actually spoke to 22,000 people in the riding of Kildonan--St. Paul over the past year and a half. Not only that, I talked to employers, who are represented under FETCO, the executive of unions, and many members of the unions themselves. Consultation was broad.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, the route the previous government took is questionable. Many of my friends are business owners. I was a business owner myself before I joined the House. Respect for labour relations and organizations that represent workers makes better relationships in that workp

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, it is undemocratic because the process used by the previous government did not include consultation. They did not go out into our community and apparently did not even consult with employers. Rather, this was jammed through, in a process not supported by either sid

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, the question of sick leave is related to negotiations with the public service and is not really the issue in this bill. This bill relates to repealing two onerous bills that were basically political instruments meant to make unionization harder and negotiations imp

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, the motivation for the bills is somewhat speculative but would indicate that the previous government had an agenda that was perhaps pro-business to the point that they would actually would be disruptive. I am pro-business but also pro-labour. A fair and balanced re