Linked statement

“I am presenting a petition from young people in Newmarket—Aurora. They want the government to spend money on education and jobs for Canadian students first, before funding large international scholarship programs. Young Canadians are struggling to afford school and find work, so our policies should focus on them.”

“Mr. Speaker, finally, before we recessed, there was a very large group of young people from Newmarket—Aurora. My colleague from Newmarket—Aurora has convened a very large and active youth council that has been organizing its own petitions, responding to concerns that exist in that community. I want to commend my colleague from Newmarket—Aurora for her incredible work with young people in her community and also the young people who worked hard to organize this petition, relating specifically to some issues of employment that I think are very important, relating to the desire of young people to have access to jobs, homes and hope. Petitioners highlight that young Canadians are struggling to find jobs, afford housing and pay for education, yet the current Liberal government continues to prioritize international programs and foreign partnerships over the needs of young Canadians. Petitioners argue that the federal government has committed large amounts of money to foreign scholarships. While the federal government needs to continue to increase applicants’ acceptance to current projected gaps in the labour market, it should be prioritizing the needs of domestic students first. The petitioners note that the federal government continues to expand these international initiatives. Meanwhile, Canadian students continue to struggle in various ways to afford education and access employment opportunities that they need. Therefore, petitioners call on the Government of Canada to prioritize public policy and funding that protect and expand access to education and work for Canadian youth, especially low- and middle-income students, before committing equivalent public resources to large international scholarship initiatives; to tie accepted applications to current and projected gaps within the workforce; and to create pathways for those who have completed their education within Canada to help fill current gaps within the Canadian labour market, and require that these international scholarships include a clear funding breakdown and a public assessment of likely effects on domestic students and labour markets, and measures to ensure that Canadian students benefit. These wise young people from Newmarket—Aurora are proposing Canadian jobs and Canadian training for Canadian students. We want Canadian young people to be able to fill the gaps that exist in our labour market, so that we have opportunities for the next generation. Again, I want to commend these young people from Newmarket—Aurora for their hard work on this excellent petition.”