I wanted to again express my disappointment that we did not look at how total spending has reduced from grants and loans and how much money is being expended and how much we are putting out in student financial assistance in terms of switching from program dollars to salaries. Just again to say how disappointed I was that the department and the Minister chose not to grandfather those students who were quite dramatically affected when the program changed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to recognize the Member's comments in that area. It was referenced in the report. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Public Service Career Training Program, at one time, all of the costs for these positions were paid for out of this particular budget by education. It was changed after a number of years, so it became a 50/50 percent funding. It dropped off dramatically. The uptake on that dropped off dramatically after that. We have been working on that. Perhaps I could ask Mr. Cleveland to expand on my comments in that area.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Cleveland.

Thank you, Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am glad to hear that things are going better this year, but I would like to indicate that I remember from committee, we lapsed somewhere in the neighbourhood of $400,000 in public service career training. To me, this seems to be an extremely high amount of money. Further to that, it is a situation where we really had to delve and know exactly what kinds of questions to ask in order to bring this to light. I think this illustrates the need for a body that reports to this House to keep this government accountable. This is one of these things that sort of slipped by almost undetected without a trace.

I think public service career training is critical. I am glad to hear it is going better this year, but when we can lapse $400,000 and only spend $200,000 in a program area that goes by without any indications from the department that this has been a problem until we know exactly what kinds of questions to ask, it concerns me.

I really think one of the roles a Public Service Commission could play is to report to this House and let us know how our government is doing in training the people that it claims are its most valuable resources. I am glad to hear things are going better this year, but very disappointed about the lapsed funds in this area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Minister.

I think also, Mr. Chairman, we have to recognize the times we were in as well. We went through division and there was tremendous downsizing prior to division in our government. So there were not a lot of opportunities for departments to add to their staffing. The concentration was on ensuring that division took place and downsizing took place, Mr. Chairman. That was another aspect. I think we are well over that area now, so we are able to get this all back on track. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question for the Minister and I hope it is under this section. It is related to previous questions that Mr. Dent had posed. It has to do with supplementary income support for those persons with a disability. I believe there was a recommendation in the committee report by the Social Programs Committee that this government consider establishing guaranteed income for those persons with disabilities. I wonder if the Minister could update us on whether this has been replied to and what the department's position is. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member is correct. There was a motion passed by the Members of the House addressing the issue of guaranteed income support for persons with disabilities. As I have said, we have made some movements in several programs. We also were working with the Council for Disabled Persons to receive their particular report. Their conference was held several weeks ago. We are awaiting their report before we can readdress that issue as the Social Envelope Committee, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am aware of the conference the Minister is referring to. I am also looking forward to getting the report from them to see what some of the recommendations are.

Mr. Chairman, am I to understand that the Minister is still open to considering some sort of a guaranteed income support for persons with disabilities and that the issue is not closed? Some of the initiatives he has brought in to give extra money to persons with disabilities, such as the $50 extra support -- which I am being advised is a great help for those in need -- are these incremental steps and the Minister will still visit the final question about the guaranteed income? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are examining the issue of support for persons with disabilities on an ongoing basis. As I mentioned, we have a process that we are following. One of the requirements we need right now is a report from the Council for Disabled Persons. As the Social Envelope Committee, we will address this. Specifically, it is mostly an area of Housing, Health and Social Services and ourselves from the Department of Education, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think that I will have to agree with the Minister and await the report from the council and revisit it then. Thank you.