1. What additional staff was hired and what was the cost to operate the Student Summer Employment Programme (a) Peace and Security (b) Canadian Penitentiary Service (c) National Parole Service (d) National Parole Board (e) Secretariat (f) RCMP under the Department of the Solicitor General?

2. Are any other programmes available for students under the Department?

Hon. Francis Fox (Solicitor General):

1. No additional staff was hired to operate the Student Summer Programmes in the Ministry of the Solicitor General, (a) Peace and Security is not a component of the Ministry of the Solicitor General and therefore there was no specific project under this name as such. However, because Peace and Security has been an important subject of legislation, the Student Summer Employment and Activities Program within the Ministry of the Solicitor General had been designed in relation with this legislation. Therefore all projects had to be related in some way to Peace and Security as a Ministry priority, (b) $18,540.00; (c) $199,193.24; (d) $21,723.00; (e) $102,759.36; (f) $183,245.55.

August 4, 1977

Order Paper Questions

2. In 1976, there was no other programme available for students under the Department. However, in 1977, there is another programme called Summer Job Corps which is available for all unemployed young persons.

1. What additional staff was hired and what was the cost to operate the Student Summer Employment Programme (a) Young Canada Works (b) Summer Job Corps (c) Job Exploration (d) Manpower Centres for Students under the Department of Manpower and Immigration?

2. Are any other programmes available for students under the Department?

Hon. Bud Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

1. (a) Seventy-seven additional staff were hired for the Young Canada Works programmes, the operating costs of which are $3,650,000.* (b) Three additional staff were hired for the Summer Job Corps programmes, the operating costs of which are $415,000. (c) This programme is co-sponsored by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Manpower and Immigration. Projects are administered by local chambers and no additional manpower staff is hired. The programme has a budget of $1.4 million, (d) This programme will hire 1,100 students and recent university graduates for a maximum of eight months to staff the network of Canada Manpower Centres for Students. The programme budget for 1977-78 is $4.8 million.

2. Yes. The Native Intern Program and Native Data Gathering Project will hire a total of 100 native youth in New Brunswick, Alberta and Ontario. * 1 2

* Nota: It should be noted that in several provinces new hirings took place for the purpose of delivering all Job Creation Branch programmes, but not specifically for the administration of the Young Canada Works programme.

Also available is the Canada Manpower Mobility Program which enables students 18 years of age or older to travel to accept temporary jobs which cannot be filled locally and which have been registered with the CMC by the employer. The financial assistance is in the form of a grant to cover the student's return travel costs from his area of residence to the area of the job and also a living allowance of $20 a day for two days. In addition, in cases where students require assistance beyond the scope of the CMC for Students or where no student centre is available, the services provided through the regular manpower system are available to students.

1. Is Mr. Frank Leblanc manager of the Ottawa District Office of UIC and, if not (a) on what date did he leave the position (b) on what date was he notified that he would no longer be manager (c) for what reason (d) is he presently on UIC's payroll and what has he been doing since ceasing to be manager?

2. Will Mr. Leblanc be appointed to another position in UIC or in any other government service and, if so, to what position and on what date?

Hon. Bud Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

1. No. (a) April 20, 1977; (b) March 24, 1977. (c) For career development purposes and in the light of his more than two years of dedicated service in the Ottawa District Office Mr. Leblanc has been assigned the duties of Chief, Special Benefit, Ottawa Head Office, at the same classification and level, (d) Yes. On leave.

2. Yes. See 1 (c).

1. Did CBC programme "The Fifth Estate" recently carry the results of an examination of news items carried by CBC English and French networks and, if so, did the examination show that (a) 21% of the English network news items were from Quebec and 46% from the rest of the country (b) 63% of the French network news items were from Quebec and only 15% from the rest of Canada?

2. What are the reasons justifying the low percentage of news items from the rest of Canada used on CBC French network?

Hon. John Roberts (Secretary of State):

I am informed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as follows: 1. Yes. The results of such an examination were carried on the programme "Fifth Estate" of April 27, 1977. (a) The examination showed that CTV and CBC English television network both carried 21 per cent of Quebec-related news during the three week survey period in January and February 1977. CBC carried slightly more Canadian news than CTV, with the two English networks averaging 46 per cent. TV A, the privately-owned French television network, and the CBC French television network carried on average 63 per cent Quebec-related news and 15 per cent news from the nine other provinces and Ottawa combined.

2. In the period analyzed by the Fifth Estate, the French network carried less news from other provinces than the English network. However, it carried twice as much as the other French-language media, namely 15 per cent compared to 6 per cent. The English network serves a diversified society which reaches right across Canada and which generates events likely to be of interest primarily to that society. The French network serves a more compact society, of which 85 per cent is concentrated in Quebec, and it too generates events which are peculiar to itself and are likely to be of more interest to its people. The preponderance of news from other provinces in the English-language media, including the English network, is due simply to the greater interest of the English-speaking public in such news. Similarly the preponderance of Quebec news in the French-speaking media, including the French network, explains the greater interest which the French-speaking public has in Quebec affairs. It is undeniable that the importance of Quebec events, even more than in the past, commands a larger place in the news in the media: the impact of an independence-oriented government in power, the policies, legislation and initiatives of this government produce a steady flow of news both in Quebec, throughout Canada and abroad and it must be treated accordingly. The time and space occupied by these Quebec events have increased at the expense of all other news of lower priority. Furthermore, this situation of an audience

August 4, 1977

comprising 85 per cent Quebeckers, at grips with this major political crisis which it is experiencing so intensely, subjects the CBC and the French-language media to an environment and conditioning which make a major difference in how they treat Quebec news and news from other provinces. Finally, as Quebec is involving all Canada in the most serious and profound political crisis since Confederation, it is natural also that the English-language media should give much more attention and time to Quebec events, especially since November 15. It should also be stressed that it is much easier to gather Quebec news for the English network than for the French network to cover the other provinces. English network reporters seldom encounter a language barrier when dealing with Quebec newsmakers, who are nearly all bilingual, whereas the French network reporters are constantly coping with the language limitations of the newsmakers in English Canada who very often are unilingual. Consequently, it is necessary to take into account the constraints and limitations experienced by the French network in producing its news in English Canada.

Have prosecutions for defrauding the Unemployment Insurance Commission been taken completely out of the hands of local police forces and placed entirely under control of the RCMP and (a) if so (i) on what date was such a decision made and by whom (ii) for what reason (b) if not, is it the government's intentions to do so?

Mr. Ralph E. Goodale (Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Privy Council):

I am informed by the Unemployment Insurance Commission and the Department of the Solicitor General as follows: (a) No, (b) No.

1. Is the Unemployment Insurance Commission, Quebec Region using, or has it ever used, the document entitled "Report of job opportunities" and, if so, for what purpose?

2. Does UIC use only four figures of the Occupational Code and is the reference data in the report based on seven figures and, if so, is the report fraudulent?

3. Does UIC run the risk of excluding a model (Occupational Code 5199-126) from eligibility to benefits because there is need for automobile assessors (O.C. 5199-118) and that UIC uses only O.C. 5199, whereas the data from the Canada Manpower Centre or any other agency includes the Code's seven figures?

4. Was this issue raised by the five hooded persons who denounced certain UIC fraudulent practices in Quebec and, if so, what did the Department do to correct the situation?

Hon. Jack Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

1. Yes, in the Montreal area only. It is one of the factors used permitting the agent to assemble information from which he can judge the availability of a claimant.

2. Yes, the agent uses the four digit code as a starting point for the collection of facts for a decision on benefit entitlement

Order Paper Questions

but in all cases any further research is based on the seven digit code obtained from the Department of Manpower.

3. See 2.

4. Unknown.

1. Did M. L. Bombardier employees, on Wednesday, April 25, 1977, occupy the UIC office located at 1441 St. Urban Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, in order to find out the decision made regarding their claim for benefits and, if so (a) was a request for disqualification submitted before they were notified by UIC officer, Mr. Jean-Guy Cote, that a decision had not yet been rendered (b) on what date was the decision made?

2. Does UIC management in Quebec make a habit of hiding the truth and, if so, does this behaviour have a negative effect on the unemployed?

Hon. Jack Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

1. Yes, but on Wednesday, April 27, 1977. (a) No. (b) Thursday, April 28, 1977.

2. See Beauchesne's Rules and Forms of the House of Commons 171(a), (h), (i) and (q).

For the most recent three years for which statistics are available, what is the amount of money paid each year to fee charging employment agencies by the Public Service Commission of Canada to fill full-time and part-time vacancies with government departments and Crown agencies?

Hon. John Roberts (Secretary of State):

I am informed by the Public Service Commission as follows: The Public Service Commission has paid no money to employment agencies in each of the last three years in order to fill vacant positions in departments and crown agencies. The Public Service Commission is responsible for the appointment of public servants in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Employment Act. It does not have the authority to enter into contracts with employment agencies on behalf of government departments. However, departments may contract with such agencies in accordance with the Government Contract Regulations. There is some concern that some departments have used the temporary employment agencies to by-pass normal recruitment procedures. As a result, the Treasury Board in consultation with the Public Service Commission has been preparing policy guidelines concerning departmental use of private personnel agencies which will improve the situation. It is anticipated that these guidelines will be issued in the near future.

Was a grievance filed by 167 employees of the UIC regional office in Montreal in December 1976, to protest against the lack of ventilation and humidity and, if so (a) during the hours which preceded the tests conducted by

August 4, 1977

Order Paper Questions

the Departments of Public Works and National Health and Welfare on December 21, 1976, did the administration order a manual ventilating system "to recreate a normal situation" (b) did the complainants win their case and, if not, for what reason?

Hon. Jack Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

Yes. (a) No. At the request of the administration, the Department of Public Works operated the air conditioning system manually as soon as the automatic system failed, (b) No, because scientific analyses of the quality of the air, of the temperature and of the humidity, conducted on December 21 and January 5 and 6, clearly established that there were no problems in any of the locations tested.

1. Does the manual used for training claim control officers at the Quebec regional office of the UIC specify on page 45, that it is better not to inform the claimant that any statement he makes might be used against him, in spite of the intimation of the court that enquiry officers must give a statutory notification to the individuals they are going to question and, if so, for what reason?

2. Does the manual also state on page 46, that the claimant has to declare that he has read the unemployment insurance booklet which accompanies the claim form in order to bring it to the attention of the court if the accused pleads his ignorance of the law and, if so (a) does the UIC suggest that the booklet is complete enough to enable a person who has read it to know all the provisions of the Act (b) in view of the complex nature of the Act and of the fact that the claimant could be intimidated by the presence of the enquiry officer while being asked whether he has read the booklet, could the use by UIC of the answer to that question be considered malicious and even fraudulent?

Hon. Jack Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

1. Yes. Investigations are designed to determine whether claimants are fulfilling their obligations under the Act and further serve to protect the integrity of the UI Account. Since the Agents objective is not to prepare material for prosecution purposes, the Commission feels that informing the claimant that his statement could be used in evidence against him, would detract from the effectiveness of this type of interview.

2. Yes. (a) The booklet in question was replaced nearly three years ago by two others entitled: (i) Your Rights and Obligations, (ii) How to Complete Your Claimant's Report Booklet (i) states: "The Unemployment Insurance Commission has prepared a series of pamphlets with one object in mind to inform and help you. However, it is possible that this pamphlet does not contain all the information you need. We therefore invite you to visit the nearest Unemployment Insurance Commission office. The staff will be happy to answer all your questions." (b) No. This question may be asked by a Benefit Control or Insurance Officer for the sole purpose of making sure that the claimant is in full knowledge of his rights and obligations.