Caroline Wawzonek

If it's kept, it reverts to the government, but its purpose was never to shore up or provide any kind of background insurance to private industry or private businesses. If an individual is dealing with someone who happens to be in this program, the good-faith deposit would not be used, as I say, to engage in whatever the private business relationships would be.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you may be gathering from the past tense, this program requiring the $75,000 deposit has now been discontinued. I understand that, in the past, this was one method by which the department was able to help ensure that applicants were, in fact, serious and had the capacity, the financial capacity, to see the process through. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recruiting more healthcare professionals is a mandate item for this government. There is already a health recruitment unit well under way, which is a partnership between Health and Social Services and the Department of Finance. In short, yes, I certainly can commit on the part of Finance, on the part of human resources, to taking some steps, to developing some ideas, and to having them ready. Aside from that, this will be something that becomes a multi-departmental response. I am confident that, as I said, human resources will do its part, and I am confident that I will be able to work with my...

[Microphone turned off] …down, Madam Chair.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Finance is able to support up to 40 internship placements every year. That works out to being roughly $40,000 per year per placement. Thank you.

Madam Chair, the $451-million proposed capital budget brings with it 990 estimated full-time equivalent jobs, so there is quite a lot of potential here to really have a significant impact at a time when, as the Member has just pointed out, there has been a lot of concern around economic downturn. This plan does have a lot of possibility in it. We've broken it down in different ways between different communities. The goal isn't to spread the dollars in some sort of fashion where we parse it out by community but to ensure that every community's needs are being met.

With respect to schools, for...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think, with respect to the carry-overs, this is a conversation that has begun and has already been had. I think on that one, Madam Chair, I do want to wait and make sure I have all of the necessary information that is still coming to me, as the Member notes that there is a written question right now that is seeking quite a lot of detail about the state of our carry-overs and where we are at. I do think there is more to come on that, and I think it is still an important conversation to have. I am sorry that I am putting it off, but I do think it's important to actually...

Mr. Speaker, I hope we are ending on a good note because I absolutely agree with that suggestion. I will definitely go back to the department and ensure that we are making available through our channels and through partners in the community, such as the chambers, information about how to run a business, how to do the due diligence, and how to ensure that, when they enter into contracts with a new business, no matter where that business comes from, that they are doing so in a way that is going to be to the growth and the support of both of the businesses that are involved. Yes, I am more than...

It's a deposit, and it is a deposit that is regulating a relationship and a program between the department and an individual who is potentially going to immigrate here. Unfortunately, it is not a compensation mechanism. The compensation mechanism when an agreement between private entities goes awry is typically through the Department of Justice and through the court system or some other form of mediation or arbitration. Again, the service and the process of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment with respect to this program is to try to provide supports to the businesses that are...

The point of the program is to encourage, well, to encourage a number of things. This is meant to be a program that brings folks into the community who can fulfill our labour shortage needs, who can bring direct investment into the economy, who can come and help add dimension to the local business community. However, if, in fact, there have only been three occasions in the last 10 or so years where it got to the point where they were unable to meet that commitment by way of having their deposit forfeited, Mr. Speaker, really that is a pretty good track record, overall. Really, the reason it's...