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Suzanne Tremblay - 14:25
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, let me be clear that the employment insurance system is there and it is working for those for whom it was designed. Of those who pay premiums, close to 90% will be eligible for benefits should they need them.
As the Prime Minister has said, the government has created three million new jobs for Canadians since it was elected. At the same time, as we have had more people working and more premiums being paid, we have been reducing employment insurance premiums. That has saved individuals and employers a considerable amount since 1993.
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Suzanne Tremblay - 14:27
Hon. Peter Milliken - 14:27
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, let us look at some of those statistics. Again, three million jobs have been created since the government took office. Half of those jobs have been created for Canadian women.
Let us understand that every single year since we have been in power, we have reduced employment insurance premiums. For the next year they will be at $1.98 for employees.
When it comes to investing in Canadians, I want to remind the hon. member that it is through the employment insurance system that we have doubled parental benefits, that we will be now introducing a compassionate leave program.
We understand our role in supporting Canadian workers.
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Hon. John Reynolds - 14:28
Peter Stoffer - 11:45
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, indeed I am very happy to tell the hon. member that this government is on track to introducing one of the world's first compassionate care programs on January 4, 2004.
We know how difficult workplace and family balance issues are, and we believe as a country that we have to help Canadians deal with the moral issue of going to work while at home they have a gravely ill child, parent or spouse. This is indeed a great and positive addition to Canada's unbelievably important social safety net.
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Hon. James Moore - 11:46
Yvon Godin - 14:46
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question gives me yet another chance to congratulate the members of the Prime Minister's task force for the work they did in speaking with over 1,000 women entrepreneurs.
In that report they did make reference to the importance of parental benefits. We indeed will follow up on their report and see which way is best associated to deal with self-employed workers in this regard.
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Hon. Gerry Ritz - 14:48
Hon. Loyola Hearn - 14:36
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's assertion is wrong. The facts are these. In the summer of 1996, seven and a half years ago, I was in Atlantic Canada on political and departmental business. I was in the riding of Fundy—Royal with the then member of Parliament, my colleague in this caucus. In the course of our schedule he suggested my family join his family for an evening at his wife's family cottage. We did that.
The hon. member can rest assured that the ethics counsellor has reviewed this and has said that there are no concerns.
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Hon. Loyola Hearn - 14:37
Hon. Karen Redman - 14:59
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's task force on women entrepreneurs has emphasized yet again how important the government's decision to double parental benefits has been to Canadian families. It clarifies indeed that women entrepreneurs, those who are self-employed do not pay premiums and therefore do not have access.
I welcome the recommendation of the committee and the information it has provided that suggests that women entrepreneurs are prepared to pay premiums. We will do what we can to provide this important benefit to women entrepreneurs.
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Hon. Stockwell Day - 15:00
Brian Pallister - 14:38
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge, all my gifts have been declared appropriately under the ethics guidelines.
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Hon. James Moore - 14:39
Hon. Judi Longfield - 14:54
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, while it may seem unbelievable, eight million Canadians do not have the literacy and numeracy skills that they need to fully participate in Canada's knowledge based society and economy.
While the Government of Canada invests $30 million a year in literacy programs and services through the National Literacy Secretariat, more needs to be done.
I congratulate the hon. member and indeed all members of the standing committee on human resources for their recent comprehensive report that gives us good direction on how best to tackle Canada's literacy challenge.
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Cheryl Gallant - 14:55
Hon. Bill Blaikie - 14:35
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, we welcome the students to the Hill and are glad to hear the views that they present to us.
The hon. member will know that the question of tuition is clearly a provincial jurisdiction. However I hope he will also know that the government takes the issue of access to post-secondary education very seriously. That is why every year we invest $1.6 billion in the Canada student loan program. That is why we have also introduced the Canada millennium foundation.
There are more programs that the government has put in place to support lifelong learning, and I hope the hon. member will recognize that.
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Hon. Bill Blaikie - 14:36
Gérard Binet - 14:40
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that we have extended the transitional period for employment insurance in the economic regions by one year. This is the case in the Madawaska-Charlotte region of New Brunswick and the Lower St. Lawrence and North Shore regions of Quebec.
We understand that seasonal work forms an important part of the social and economic fabric of Canada, which is why I am pleased that the Prime Minister will be establishing a task force on seasonal work that will examine the range of issues that affect the industries, the workforce and the communities that are dependent on these activities.
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Bill Casey - 14:41
Dick Proctor - 15:00
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member that when hours of work are restricted by federal or provincial statute, the Employment Insurance Act considers full time employees to have 35 insurable hours per week. There is currently no statute that limits work weeks of flight attendants in this way.
We have advised the airlines, however, that they should count not only flight time but also ground time. The employers are currently remodelling their reporting systems, but we have a system in place so these employees can receive benefits.
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Chuck Cadman - 15:02
Carmen Provenzano - 11:54
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, indeed in Canada today we have a concerning paradox. On the one hand we anticipate a shortage of up to a million skilled workers by the year 2010. On the other hand we know that many aboriginal workers are not fully integrated into the labour force.
The gap here is skills. That is why today I am pleased to announce the aboriginal employment and skills partnership, an $85 million program that will assist aboriginal people in gaining the skills that they need to participate in the economic development and activities in communities in and around where they live.
We hope through partnership to build 7,000 jobs for aboriginal people so that they can make a vital contribution to the Canadian economy.
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Myron Thompson - 11:55
Marcel Gagnon - 11:59
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the government is anxious to ensure that seniors have access to the programs that we have in place to support them. That includes the guaranteed income supplement.
The hon. member will know we have increased our connections, our contacts with Canadian seniors so they are aware of this program. We have made the applications much easier because indeed, we want those citizens to have access to these important supporting programs.
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Hon. Greg Thompson - 12:00
Right Hon. Stephen Harper - 14:21
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I am sorry I was not paying as close attention as I might have been to the hon. member's question. However I can certainly say in the context of my department when we look at the investments that we make, and itemized in the estimates, they include the national homelessness initiative, the temporary fisheries program, the Voisey's Bay project to ensure that aboriginal people in Newfoundland and Labrador are part of that program and additional money to help us with our SARS strategy.
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Right Hon. Stephen Harper - 14:22
Suzanne Tremblay - 14:41
Lib. (ON)
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Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. We have good working relationships with the majority of provinces when it comes to labour market agreements.
I continue to work with a forum of labour market ministers to look at how better to improve these agreements for the benefit of all Canadians.
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Suzanne Tremblay - 14:42
Brian Pallister - 14:35
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, what I will confirm is that the Auditor General herself, and himself before, came in and looked at our plan and said that we were on track. We continue to ensure it is implemented.
I would also remind the hon. member that the point in question is about individual wrongdoing and that the department has already taken swift and severe disciplinary action up to and including firing. He would not want to engage in continued speculation because I am sure he wants the police to complete its investigation and get all the facts.
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Brian Pallister - 14:36
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I prefer the hon. member depoliticize his questions and listen to the facts here.
Again, this is an issue of individual wrongdoing. We have already acted up to and including firing. The hon. member can go on the website and look at all the grants and contributions made by the Department of Human Resources Development Canada in his riding and in the ridings of all members of the House.
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Jean-Yves Roy - 14:37
Suzanne Tremblay - 14:48
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, it is unclear to which file the hon. member is making reference. However, it certainly would be up to the RCMP to advise her if it has answers to her questions.
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Suzanne Tremblay - 14:49
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right, this file was referred to the RCMP. I again state that if the hon. member has questions, it would be best for her to put them to the RCMP for response.
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James Rajotte - 14:50
Brian Pallister - 11:50
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member can continue to engage in speculation but he knows there is an ongoing police investigation. He knows that the Department of Human Resources Development Canada is co-operating with the police. He knows that the department has already taken severe disciplinary action up to and including firing. He knows that I will not be sharing any more details with him because I do not want to jeopardize this ongoing investigation.
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Brian Pallister - 11:51
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, with specific reference to that question, I can tell the hon. member that the department contracted work to be done by a company called MaxSys under competitively tendered standing offers established by Public Works and Government Services Canada in the year 2001.
MaxSys provided the services of Paul Cochrane to conduct the human resources work. However, when a firm is contracted to supply services to the department, Public Works and Government Services Canada does ensure that the contractor personnel are security screened to the appropriate level.
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Hon. David Pratt - 11:53
Brian Pallister - 14:52
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps I will just take this opportunity to remind the hon. member of what we have done.
We received information from the police that some of our employees might be involved in an investigation. At that point we conducted our own investigation. We examined our files. We called in forensic auditors. We called in the RCMP. We have taken severe disciplinary action, including firing.
It is our obligation to make sure that those who choose to work outside the rules face the consequences, and that is what we are doing here.
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Brian Pallister - 14:53
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I take full responsibility to work with the police to ensure that those who are cheating the system are caught and that the full impact of the law is placed on them.
As I said yesterday, the police have asked us not to share any further details so as not to jeopardize their investigation. Surely the hon. member would want to make sure that all charges are laid as appropriate.
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Hon. David Pratt - 14:54
Werner Schmidt - 14:56
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I am very sensitive to the devastating impact that these fires have had on individuals in the Okanagan. I am happy today to tell the hon. member that the employment insurance commission has agreed to make more flexible the work sharing provisions so that those businesses that have been affected can ensure they can continue and that their employees can continue to go to work.
In that context I would remind the hon. member that there is no two week waiting period associated with work sharing.
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Richard Marceau - 14:57
Diane Bourgeois - 15:02
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question gives me the opportunity again to recognize that the government has doubled parental benefits, not only providing benefits for Canadian mothers but also for Canadian fathers.
As well, we find that the employment insurance system, by moving to an hours based program, allows more women to be eligible for employment insurance.
We also find that more women are working and, in fact, as a result of the increased jobs in our strong economy, women are working and bringing home employment wages to help support themselves and their families.
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Hon. Peter Milliken - 15:03
Brian Pallister - 14:33
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, it is appalling and it is shocking when we get information about employees who wilfully choose to cheat the system.
In this case the police advised us of the possible involvement of some employees in one of their investigations. We immediately took action, starting our own investigation, bringing in forensic auditors, containing our files and making referrals to the RCMP.
The hon. member will know that we have taken severe disciplinary action up to and including firing. We continue to work with the police on this file, and their investigation continues.
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Brian Pallister - 14:34
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, in fact I am very happy with the implementation of our new control plan work around grants and contributions.
Let us be clear here. What we are talking about is individual wrongdoing, employees who have chosen to thwart the system and to cheat the system.
We are working with the RCMP and the police on their investigation. They have asked us not to share full details of the investigations because we want to ensure that it comes to the most appropriate conclusion.
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Suzanne Tremblay - 14:35
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member makes reference to a CLC document. In its calculations, it is counting individuals for whom the employment insurance system is not designed, employees that have never been employed, those who have not paid premiums, those who were in school or who were formerly self-employed.
As I have said on a number of occasions in the House, the monitoring and assessment report clearly indicates that close to 90% of those for whom the program is designed would be eligible should they need employment insurance benefits.
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Suzanne Tremblay - 14:36
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member recognizes the work this government has undertaken in support of seasonal workers in this particular area of the country as well as in New Brunswick.
We have seen, as a result of these transitional measures, communities coming together to create and diversify their economies to provide new employment for those who need it. I am glad these transitional measures have worked, as well as other programs we have put in place to expand the seasons in the forestry industry, in the fishery and in tourism.
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Hon. Jay Hill - 14:37
Hon. Peter Milliken - 15:32
Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to present today two copies, in both official languages, of the National Child Benefit Progress Report: 2002.
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Hon. Geoff Regan - 15:33