Kevin Lamoureux, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
“Our government takes youth unemployment seriously and is taking real action. The youth unemployment rate was worse in 2012 under the Conservatives than it is today. We are creating jobs for young people by recruiting about 7,000 new soldiers, offering $5,000 grants for skilled trades, and funding summer jobs. I also want us to change our rules so debates like this cannot be used to block government bills.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would like to express appreciation for the effective role that the standing committees can play at times. The House of Commons is made up of a number of standing committees. Through those standing committees, there is an opportunity to do a wide spectrum of different studies. One thing the Government of Canada has consistently been concerned about, coming out of the last federal election, is the economy and its impact on jobs, opportunities and so forth. We have seen a number of different initiatives that have been supported by the government. We have a standing committee of the House that has spent some time trying to deal with the youth unemployment issue. I have a number of things I would like to share with the House on that, at the very least to acknowledge the efforts made by the standing committee to bring forward this particular report. I have argued in the past, when we have had a continuation as opposed to an adjournment, as to why these reports come before the House. Typically, it is a way we can provide concurrence if it is deemed necessary. Before I provide my comments directly on youth and youth employment, I want to highlight the legislative agenda. Just moments ago, we had the opportunity to pass a private member’s bill that will have a profound, positive impact on Canadians. In every region, there will be Canadians who will directly benefit from the legislation we just passed. It is encouraging to see members on all sides of the House come together to see what I anticipate will be that bill passing tomorrow unanimously. I give credit to the member for taking the time to do the canvassing, to share the experiences and to work very closely with the Prime Minister’s Office and others to make sure we could do that, because of the expenditure component of the legislation. It was a significant challenge. I say that first and foremost to acknowledge exactly what my friend from B.C. has been able to accomplish but also to highlight that, as programmed private member’s business, whether it is a motion or a bill, the Standing Orders facilitate its ultimate passage. If we look at government business, much like opposition business, there is a limited time frame. I have had opportunities to talk about this issue with other concurrence motions that have been brought to the House. When a concurrence motion is brought forward during government business at the beginning of the day, what I have witnessed over the years is that it is often used as a tool to prevent government bills from being debated or to minimize the amount of time that a government bill is up for debate. I say this as more of a cautionary note. Government legislation does not have programming per se. It is an issue with the Standing Orders, to protect both government and opposition. I believe we can come up with ways that would facilitate programming of motions or government legislation in much the same way that opposition or private members’ bills are allowed to be programmed. In Manitoba, we made some rule changes that facilitated that sort of programming for the first time. That is important to recognize at this stage because, I would like to think, there should be a high level of interest in ensuring that government legislation is debated in the House, while at the same time respecting what concurrence motions are there for. Where there is an opportunity to talk about an important issue, we would find, if we were to check with the Clerk’s table, that we could be debating concurrence motions, or issues raised at committees such as the one we are debating tonight, indefinitely. We could virtually take it all the way up to the next election. It is very important, when we get reports that come out of our standing committees, that we be very careful about which ones we determine we want to debate and then ultimately have concurrence or a vote on here in the House. I am glad we are having this debate this evening because it is not taking away from debate on government legislation, which is critically important because it is a part of election platforms. Those debates need to occur. Then the legislation needs to advance to a committee and come back for the third and final reading in order to advance to the Senate and then to royal assent if the Senate does not send it back. Time is very important. This is not to take away from the principles of the report itself. The report we are debating today is about youth unemployment, which has been a major concern of this government since the last federal election. I myself was very concerned about it and had the opportunity to talk about it in the last federal election. I can assure members opposite that whether they look at the Prime Minister or other members of the Liberal caucus, they will find a great deal of effort put into public policy to drive the issue of youth employment and determine what we can do to alleviate concerns. Listening to the Conservative opposition’s remarks, one would think that youth unemployment at this level is something new. Sadly, that is not the case. Youth unemployment at times can be a very difficult challenge. If we were to go back to 2012, two administrations ago under Stephen Harper, we would find that youth unemployment back then was just over 14%. The economy was doing relatively well, and we did not have the wars in the Middle East and Europe or the trade issue between Canada and United States. We can contrast that to 2025, which was the first year we could actually report that, on average, youth unemployment was less than 14%. In 2012, it was over 14%; in 2025, it was less than 14%, on average. We are still concerned about it, which means we are trying to address the issue. I would argue that one needs to look at the different announcements we have made as a government to support our young people in Canada. As for employment opportunities, a number of things come to mind, and I would like to emphasize a few of those things in particular. One would be general policy as a whole with the government promoting, encouraging and investing in our Canadian Armed Forces. We have seen dramatic results. Within six months of the last election, the Prime Minister and the government achieved that spending of 2% of the GDP. As a benefit of that, not only did we see a bump in salaries for our military personnel, but we also saw record numbers of young people get in line to become members of the Canadian Forces. That directly helps young people. There is a sense of pride because it had been 30 years since we saw so many put in their applications. Yesterday, when I brought it up, the Conservatives said they are just applications. Well, those applications turn into real recruits. I believe the number is 7,000. Can members tell me when it was that high in the last 30 years? It has not been the case, which goes to show that government policy has clearly demonstrated a higher level of interest in providing more job opportunities in the Canadian Forces. I was young when I joined the forces. I would have been 20 or 21, I am not 100% sure, but as a young Canadian going into boot camp situations, I found the vast majority were young. This is one action since the last federal election. Another action has been the Red Seal program. The Red Seal in trades is an incredible commitment from young people to play a major role in building a stronger and healthier Canada. Something I am often afforded the opportunity to talk about is how the government is advancing the importance of building that stronger, healthier Canada. As I cited just an hour or so ago, everything from major projects to small businesses is going to drive and build that stronger economy, and an important aspect of that is our skilled trades. These are important jobs of the future, and we have made a commitment to young people that we are going to invest in that program to the degree that we anticipate 80,000 to 100,000 people are going to directly benefit. We are talking about a $5,000 donation to individuals who are able to acquire that certificate, which helps pay for the education and the training that was involved. It provides incentive, whether for those in post-secondary institutions or secondary institutions. I think of high schools like Tec-Voc High School in Winnipeg, our Red River College Polytechnic and other post-secondary facilities. Cooks, autobody workers, bricklayers, hairstylists, machinists, plumbers, roofers, tower crane operators, welders and so many more are going to benefit, and they are going to be the youth. The minister just made an announcement that we are going to extend the employer applications for the Canada summer jobs program until December 3. These summer jobs provide opportunities for young people. Thousands of young people are going to benefit from the summer jobs program, and providing those non-profits and others the opportunity to hire youth will benefit Canada as a whole. I think of the many daycares in Winnipeg North and how many of them will be hiring summer youth. These are all programs designed to help young people land their first job. It is making a tangible difference. The government talks about youth unemployment and takes tangible examples of it. I just finished demonstrating that.”
Mr. Speaker, I would like to express appreciation for the effective role that the standing committees can play at times. The House of Commons is made up of a number of standing committees. Through those standing committees, there is an opportunity to do a wide spectrum of different studies. One thing the Government of Canada has consistently been concerned about, coming out of the last federal election, is the economy and its impact on jobs, opportunities and so forth. We have seen a number of different initiatives that have been supported by the government. We have a standing committee of the House that has spent some time trying to deal with the youth unemployment issue. I have a number of things I would like to share with the House on that, at the very least to acknowledge the efforts made by the standing committee to bring forward this particular report. I have argued in the past, when we have had a continuation as opposed to an adjournment, as to why these reports come before the House. Typically, it is a way we can provide concurrence if it is deemed necessary. Before I provide my comments directly on youth and youth employment, I want to highlight the legislative agenda. Just moments ago, we had the opportunity to pass a private member’s bill that will have a profound, positive impact on Canadians. In every region, there will be Canadians who will directly benefit from the legislation we just passed. It is encouraging to see members on all sides of the House come together to see what I anticipate will be that bill passing tomorrow unanimously. I give credit to the member for taking the time to do the canvassing, to share the experiences and to work very closely with the Prime Minister’s Office and others to make sure we could do that, because of the expenditure component of the legislation. It was a significant challenge. I say that first and foremost to acknowledge exactly what my friend from B.C. has been able to accomplish but also to highlight that, as programmed private member’s business, whether it is a motion or a bill, the Standing Orders facilitate its ultimate passage. If we look at government business, much like opposition business, there is a limited time frame. I have had opportunities to talk about this issue with other concurrence motions that have been brought to the House. When a concurrence motion is brought forward during government business at the beginning of the day, what I have witnessed over the years is that it is often used as a tool to prevent government bills from being debated or to minimize the amount of time that a government bill is up for debate. I say this as more of a cautionary note. Government legislation does not have programming per se. It is an issue with the Standing Orders, to protect both government and opposition. I believe we can come up with ways that would facilitate programming of motions or government legislation in much the same way that opposition or private members’ bills are allowed to be programmed. In Manitoba, we made some rule changes that facilitated that sort of programming for the first time. That is important to recognize at this stage because, I would like to think, there should be a high level of interest in ensuring that government legislation is debated in the House, while at the same time respecting what concurrence motions are there for. Where there is an opportunity to talk about an important issue, we would find, if we were to check with the Clerk’s table, that we could be debating concurrence motions, or issues raised at committees such as the one we are debating tonight, indefinitely. We could virtually take it all the way up to the next election. It is very important, when we get reports that come out of our standing committees, that we be very careful about which ones we determine we want to debate and then ultimately have concurrence or a vote on here in the House. I am glad we are having this debate this evening because it is not taking away from debate on government legislation, which is critically important because it is a part of election platforms. Those debates need to occur. Then the legislation needs to advance to a committee and come back for the third and final reading in order to advance to the Senate and then to royal assent if the Senate does not send it back. Time is very important. This is not to take away from the principles of the report itself. The report we are debating today is about youth unemployment, which has been a major concern of this government since the last federal election. I myself was very concerned about it and had the opportunity to talk about it in the last federal election. I can assure members opposite that whether they look at the Prime Minister or other members of the Liberal caucus, they will find a great deal of effort put into public policy to drive the issue of youth employment and determine what we can do to alleviate concerns. Listening to the Conservative opposition’s remarks, one would think that youth unemployment at this level is something new. Sadly, that is not the case. Youth unemployment at times can be a very difficult challenge. If we were to go back to 2012, two administrations ago under Stephen Harper, we would find that youth unemployment back then was just over 14%. The economy was doing relatively well, and we did not have the wars in the Middle East and Europe or the trade issue between Canada and United States. We can contrast that to 2025, which was the first year we could actually report that, on average, youth unemployment was less than 14%. In 2012, it was over 14%; in 2025, it was less than 14%, on average. We are still concerned about it, which means we are trying to address the issue. I would argue that one needs to look at the different announcements we have made as a government to support our young people in Canada. As for employment opportunities, a number of things come to mind, and I would like to emphasize a few of those things in particular. One would be general policy as a whole with the government promoting, encouraging and investing in our Canadian Armed Forces. We have seen dramatic results. Within six months of the last election, the Prime Minister and the government achieved that spending of 2% of the GDP. As a benefit of that, not only did we see a bump in salaries for our military personnel, but we also saw record numbers of young people get in line to become members of the Canadian Forces. That directly helps young people. There is a sense of pride because it had been 30 years since we saw so many put in their applications. Yesterday, when I brought it up, the Conservatives said they are just applications. Well, those applications turn into real recruits. I believe the number is 7,000. Can members tell me when it was that high in the last 30 years? It has not been the case, which goes to show that government policy has clearly demonstrated a higher level of interest in providing more job opportunities in the Canadian Forces. I was young when I joined the forces. I would have been 20 or 21, I am not 100% sure, but as a young Canadian going into boot camp situations, I found the vast majority were young. This is one action since the last federal election. Another action has been the Red Seal program. The Red Seal in trades is an incredible commitment from young people to play a major role in building a stronger and healthier Canada. Something I am often afforded the opportunity to talk about is how the government is advancing the importance of building that stronger, healthier Canada. As I cited just an hour or so ago, everything from major projects to small businesses is going to drive and build that stronger economy, and an important aspect of that is our skilled trades. These are important jobs of the future, and we have made a commitment to young people that we are going to invest in that program to the degree that we anticipate 80,000 to 100,000 people are going to directly benefit. We are talking about a $5,000 donation to individuals who are able to acquire that certificate, which helps pay for the education and the training that was involved. It provides incentive, whether for those in post-secondary institutions or secondary institutions. I think of high schools like Tec-Voc High School in Winnipeg, our Red River College Polytechnic and other post-secondary facilities. Cooks, autobody workers, bricklayers, hairstylists, machinists, plumbers, roofers, tower crane operators, welders and so many more are going to benefit, and they are going to be the youth. The minister just made an announcement that we are going to extend the employer applications for the Canada summer jobs program until December 3. These summer jobs provide opportunities for young people. Thousands of young people are going to benefit from the summer jobs program, and providing those non-profits and others the opportunity to hire youth will benefit Canada as a whole. I think of the many daycares in Winnipeg North and how many of them will be hiring summer youth. These are all programs designed to help young people land their first job. It is making a tangible difference. The government talks about youth unemployment and takes tangible examples of it. I just finished demonstrating that.
