Interview with The Honourable Stéphane Dion

SD: Yes, they are contributing, mostly by ignoring the problem that abuse may happen within the federal public service. If that's the case, it's clearly a problem because the federal government should be setting an example to follow as an employer. If the federal government does not take the lead, then the private sector may abuse as well, based on what the government is doing.   

MH: Along those lines, I wanted to talk about the issues of youth unemployment and underemployment.

At 13.5 percent, Canada's youth unemployment rate is over double the rate of the genreral population, and one in four university graduates between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently underemployed.

In your opinion, what types of policies could the federal government pursue to reduce youth unemployment and underemployment in Canada?

SD: Well, in June of last year, the Standing Committee on Finance published a report called Youth Employment in Canada: Challenges and Potential Solutions, and our party submitted a Supplementary Report with specific recommendations, which I encourage your audience to look at.

And one of the main recommendations that we made was for the federal government to reverse its funding cuts to the Youth Employment Strategy, and to reverse its cuts to the number of young Canadians employed through the Canada Summer Jobs Program, the Federal Student Work Experience Program, and the Co-operative Education and Internship Program.

Unfortunately, the Conservatives have cut $98 million in funding to the Youth Employment Strategy, even though its their flagship program for youth employment. And they've also cut the number of student jobs created through the Canada Summer Jobs Program by more than half.

So we are calling on the government to reverse its cuts to these programs.

MH: Some would argue that, when it comes to policy-making, young people are largely ignored by governments because many of us do not make our voices heard at the ballot box.

Could reforming our voting system – by adopting some form of proportional representation, for instance – potentially compel more young people to vote?

SD: It is one solution, yes, although the main problem is that many people do not believe they have a duty to vote, compared to previous generations who generally did believe this.