Question No. 621 Ms. Hélène Laverdière: With regard to the planned reductions in departmental spending for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) announced in Budget 2012, for fiscal years 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015: (a) what is the total dollar amount of reductions for each of the program activities, specifically, (i) International Policy Advice and Integration, (ii) Diplomacy and Advocacy, (iii) International Commerce, (iv) Consular Services and Emergency Management, (v) Passport Canada, (vi) Governance, Strategic Direction and Common Service Delivery; (b) what are the total reductions for full-time ...[+++]equivalents (FTEs) for each of the program activities, specifically, (i) International Policy Advice and Integration, (ii) Diplomacy and Advocacy, (iii) International Commerce, (iv) Consular Services and Emergency Management, (v) Passport Canada, (vi) Governance, Strategic Direction and Common Service Delivery; (c) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor for the Extractive Sector; (d) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Afghanistan, Middle East and Maghreb, broken down by (i) Afghanistan Inter-Departmental Communications and Information Services Bureau, (ii) Director General, Afghanistan Task Force, (iii) Middle East and Maghreb Bureau; (e) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Americas, broken down by (i) Director General, Latin America and Caribbean, (ii) Hemispheric Policy Bureau, (iii) North American Platform Program, Executive Coordinator and Senior Advisor, (iv) North America Policy Bureau, (v) North America Programs and Operations Bureau, (vi) North American Leaders' Summit Division; (f) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister for Europe, Eurasia and Africa, broken down by (i) Africa Bureau, Director Gen ...

(Return tabled) Question No. 141 Ms. Kirsty Duncan: With respect to climate change and international and national security: (a) what does the government project are the potential impacts on currently stable regions of the world of such climate change-related phenomena as, but not limited to, (i) rises in sea level, (ii) increases in extreme weather events, (iii) increases in the spread of infectious disease, (iv) increases in environmental refugees; (b) what does the government project will be (i) the consequences of the impacts identified in (a)(ii), (a)(iii), and (a)(iv) on domestic military missions, (ii) the consequences of (a)(i), ...[+++](a)(ii), (a)(iii), (a)(iv) and (b)(i) in terms of the military’s capacity to respond and the availability of troops for missions not related to conflicts induced by climate change-related phenomena; (c) what does the government project will be the potential impacts on already-weakened states of such climate change-related phenomena as, but not limited to, (i) sea level rise, (ii) extreme weather events, (iii) the spread of infectious diseases; (d) what does the government project will be the extent of the effects climate impacts could have on already-weakened states, including, but not limited to, (i) expanded ungoverned spaces, (ii) further weakened and failed states, (iii) increased conflicts, (iv) increased migrations; (e) what does the government project will be the impact of the effects identified in (d) on Canada’s national security; (f) which nations does the government project will be most affected by climate change, (i) what is the government’s assessment of each such country’s capacity to adapt or cope, (ii) what, if any, action is Canada taking to strengthen the capacity of weak governments to better cope with societal needs projected to arise as a result of climate change-related impacts, (iii) what is the government’s assessment of possible security risks if Canada does contribute to international efforts related to ...

To cope with the strategy for economic and social modernisation adopted at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 and the new challenges which have emerged in conjunction with changes in society, employment and the world of work, we need to reinforce concertation on economic and social policy and independent social dialogue.

On the basis of analysis concerning the forces driving industrial change, the Group should examine how to anticipate change, and how to deal with change, in terms of economic and social policies, as well as identifying the impact of change on different industrial sectors, including those which may deserve particular attention.

In order to enhance the productivity of labour and expand the demand for labour the following could be pursued: - ensure that the macro-economic policies support broad based economic growth and widespread distribution of its benefits; - promote equitable access to assets such as skills, land, credit, capital and technology, to enhance work opportunities in rural and urban areas and the productivity of work, in particular for women ; - support the formulation and implementation by partner countries - as part of partners' overall strategy to reduce poverty - of consistent overall employment strat ...[+++]egies on the basis of a commitment to accelerate the increase in productive employment in the private sector with the aim of having an economic policy which should be both job and productivity-driven ; - support the development of an environment favourable to small enterprises and micro-enterprises, including those in the informal sector through, inter alia, the provision of appropriate and efficient credit facilities, notably micro- credit; - support improvements in quality/relevance and the expansion of education and training systems including lifelong learning; no sustainable increases in employment and productivity can be achieved without raising the qualifications and responsiveness of human resources to economic change; - where appropriate, promote labour-intensiveness of investment in economic and social infrastructures that use local resources and provide for their effective integration into the local socio-economic context. c) Health Under the "Horizon 2000" initiative, the Council has identified health as a major priority of development aid and of coordination between the Community and Member States.

The reason I mention this very important period of time in Canadian history in terms of fiscal policy and economic policy is because I believe that as we enter the new millennium, as we enter a period where change is going to be more rapid and the challenges facing Canadians are going to be ever more complex, we need a government that is more than a caretaker, more than a stewardship short of government, a government that basically has inherited some strong economic policies ...[+++] but really has not done a whole lot to create new economic policies or made the types of visionary changes that are necessary to lead Canadians proudly and prosperously into the next century.