Flaherty says job grant plan a go with or without premiers
Marois describes Conservatives as ‘a real predator’
“If the provincial government of a province chooses not to participate, that’s their choice.”
FINANCE MINISTER JIM FLAHERTY
OTTAWA — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the federal government will proceed with the controversial Canada Job Grant program with or without the provinces, serving notice to premiers that Ottawa will spend federal dollars however it sees fit.
The federal government announced in Tuesday’s budget that it plans to launch the program April 1 despite concerns from the provinces, which sparked outrage Wednesday f rom several premiers.
Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney took a more conciliatory tone than Flaherty, saying Ottawa continues to have productive discussions with the provinces.
But Flaherty, in a blunt message to the provinces, said Wednesday too many Canadians across the count r y, especially younger people, are struggling to find jobs at the same time employers are looking to hire in many industries.
There’s clearly a mismatch between the skills of Canadian workers and the jobs available largely because the provinces have done a poor job training people to fill available positions, he said.
“The money that is be- ing put into job creation, job training in Canada is not provincial tax money, it is federal tax money. And it’s not for a provincial government to tell the federal government how to spend federal tax money,” Flaherty told reporters Wednesday in Ottawa.
The finance minister said Ottawa is sending billions of dollars to the provinces for job training, yet some of them don’t even report back and the federal government doesn’t know how the money is being spent.
“We will do it with the employers directly and the government of Canada. If the provincial government of a province chooses not to participate, that’s their choice. I think most provinces will, but we sometimes have exceptions,” Flaherty added.
The government is imposing an April 1 deadline on the Canada Job Grant — the centrepiece of last year’s budget — even though Ottawa is still in negotiations with the provinces.
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois accused the government of acting like a “real predator.”
Marois is incensed with Ottawa’s insistence it will enforce the Canada Job Grant in just six weeks — with or without the co-operation of all provinces and territories. She accused the Harper government of imposing a decision and not wanting to negotiate.
The program’s initial concept was to have the federal government, a province and employer each contribute up to $5,000 — for a total of $15,000 for each eligible worker — to train them for a new or better job.
But furious premiers threatened to boycott the program because the Conservative government has planned to finance it by pulling back $300 million of $500 million in annual federal funding dedicated to Labour Market Agreements with the provinces that expire March 31.
The cash goes to the provinces to train low-skilled Canadians and those ineligible for employment insurance benefits. Ottawa transfers almost $2 billion in additional cash to the provinces and territories each year for separate Labour Market Development Agreements to provide training to EI-eligible individuals.
The Harper government has since offered to pay up to $10,000 for each job grant — covering the provinces’ $5,000 share on top of the federal obligation.
But the provinces have been pushing back and recently delivered a counteroffer that would delay implementation of the Canada Job Grant by six months, phase it in over a longer period and have it be subject for review after a couple of years.