Liberals look to meet increased youth jobs promise

JORDAN PRESS

THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The federal government will find a way to create 15,000 green jobs over three years, even after falling well short of a smaller goal last year, Canada’s labour minister says.

Labour Minister Patty Hajdu says it took the government “a little bit of time to co-ordinate ourselves,” after promising during the 2015 election campaign to create 5,000 so-called “green jobs.”

But Hajdu said eight federal agencies involved in the push should meet the jobs goal now that they have a better relationship with private employers in the field.

“The more we get to know stakeholders and the better our relationships become, which this government is quite clear that we do — we work in partnership with stakeholders — the more opportunities there are,” Hajdu said in an interview.

“I feel very comfortable with that number (15,000) still. I think we’ll be able to reach that target.”

Last summer, Parks Canada employed 1,636 students, an increase of 435 over students employed during summer 2015 — but only onethird of the total the Liberals promised. Overall, across multiple departments, there were expected to be more than 2,000 green jobs, but the final tally from 2016 won’t be known until this fall.

Internal government documents about the proposal show just how complicated fulfilling the original promise has been for civil servants.

Days after the Liberals were sworn in as government, officials from nine federal departments met on the third floor of a government building in Gatineau, Que., across the river from Ottawa, to talk youth jobs, including the green jobs pledge.