Denise Savoie

NDP, COMMUNITY GROUPS WIN MORE JOBS FOR STUDENTS

Issues of underfunding and cuts to public sector remain

OTTAWA – NDP MPs working with community groups celebrated a partial victory for students and communities today, as Service Canada confirmed that all non-profit groups receiving funding to hire summer students last year will receive funding this year under Canada Summer Jobs.

This is a major government reversal following a huge public outcry last week after scores of rejection notices went out to associations and municipalities who had previously offered valuable community programs. However, NDP MPs pledged to continue the fight for increased funding and for a review of the public sector cuts that threaten community programs and local tourism capacity.

“The government heard from Canadians loud and clear but have only gone half way in fixing this mess,” said Denise Savoie (Victoria). “The minister is promising a review and more student jobs, but he’s offering no new funding. He has said nothing of the significant cuts to municipal programs that are crucial for so many communities and offer real career opportunities for students in the summer.”

NDP offices across Canada have been told that local Chambers of Commerce, downtown associations, and municipalities have been rejected for summer job funding. These groups hire thousands of students to staff local parks, museums, summer camps, and recreation programs that are integral parts of their communities.

“We asked the minister to take another look and see how many worthy groups and projects were excluded by his new program criteria,” said Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina). “We are pleased that he is proactively contacting many of those groups to fix the problem. But that is only putting a band aid on one mistake in the face of public outcry. We still have to fix a deeply flawed application and assessment process, and the issue of chronic underfunding of this program.”

Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) said he understands the Conservatives’ interest in ending the subsidies to large corporations under the old Liberal program. However, that funding could have been shifted to deserving groups and programs, instead of cut altogether.

“The Liberals may have tossed around money where it wasn’t needed,” said Martin. “But they also consistently under funded the program by over $20 million a year for a decade. There are plenty of deserving groups and programs that have long been denied federal support to create better-paying jobs that help keep our students in their home communities in the summer.”

Although the 1996 federal budget pledged $120 million per year for student summer placements, funding for the old Summer Career Placement Program has stagnated between $90-$97 million since 1997, despite a growing number of post-secondary students and rising unemployment among returning students during the summer months.

Savoie also voiced concern for those students who are looking for summer work to pay tuition fees which are either rising next year or frozen at already unaffordable levels.

“Between Liberals and Conservatives, that’s a funding gap of over $31 million,” said Savoie. “That means fewer jobs for students and even more student debt down the road – this is not helping to create a strong and equitable economy.”