Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise this House about the meeting of Labour Market Ministers held on the evening of February 28, and on March 1.
The agenda began with an update by the federal government on income security reform. The Minister of Human Resources Canada, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, highlighted the $800 million identified in the recent federal budget speech which is set aside for innovative social security reform pilot projects over the next two years.
I believe that the investing in people initiative which we plan to introduce in the next fiscal year, and other possible initiatives to be developed which support this approach, to be candidates for sharing in this opportunity for reform.
By the end of the month, the deputy ministers have been tasked to complete draft guidelines for the scope, principles and qualifications of eligible reform projects, as well as guidelines for approval, evaluation and funding.
The Ministers also discussed the focus paper, "A Study on the Modernization and Restructuring of Canada's Social Security System," released that day by the parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources Development. The paper called for submissions by March 9, 1994. Mr. Speaker, I will provide a copy of the Federal Government's standing committee paper to all Members of this Assembly.
Following this, the committee plans to produce an interim report on March 25 outlining Canadians' concerns and priorities for income security reform. The committee then plans to consult more broadly across the country and will prepare a final report by September 30, 1994. This report will include a review of the federal government's action plan and recommendations for reform.
Once this report has been released, the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers will meet again to review the recommendations to advise the federal government on legislative reform and to share information about progress on reform in each of their own jurisdictions.
The Honourable Rebecca Mike, Minister of Social Services, and myself are planning to release a territorial preliminary discussion paper on income security reform before the legislature concludes in April of 1994.
Mr. Speaker, during the meeting on March 1, Ministers also discussed such matters as:
-reducing duplication and overlap between governments;
-federal youth initiatives, namely internship and the youth service corps;
-barriers to employment and training;
-labour mobility as part of the interprovincial agreement on reduction of trade barriers;
-standards and interprovincial computerized examinations for the trades; and,
-increasing private sector investment in training.
Mr. Speaker, we also discussed how the forum of Labour Market Ministers might be better organized to respond to today's challenges for change in our unemployment insurance and social assistance programs. We have to meet today's fiscal realities while providing for Canadians to become more productive, and we must continue to provide a social safety net. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.