Statement made on 09 February 2011 by Senator Terry Mercer
Hon. Terry M. Mercer:
Honourable senators, I am having difficulty with this answer. The leader talked about lack of focus, sustainability and budgetary information. The focus is 50 years of doing a job around the world and helping thousands of teachers and millions of students improve their lives in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean region. The sustainability is this program has been delivered over 50 years. Budgetary information is provided in all the applications.
What prompted me to rise to my feet was the talk about the Canadian Teachers' Federation not meeting the requirements for filling out an application. I recall only a short while ago, as honourable senators will recall, that the Prime Minister had a big event where he talked about the commitment of the Conservative government to cutting what? Red tape. He was cutting red tape.
It seems to me, honourable senators, that a program like this one, which has been praised by people across Canada and around the world as a terrific program, is a great place to show the kind of leadership that the Prime Minister seemed to indicate he wanted to demonstrate: by cutting the red tape and by ensuring that this program receives funding and receives it now.
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