Peggy Nash

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, perhaps I can help the minister. Under his government's watch, our country has lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs.

Could the minister remind us of something a little more recent. How many jobs in total were lost just last month?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, perhaps the minister missed my question. Does he know how many manufacturing jobs have disappeared under his government's watch?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, could the minister tell us how many manufacturing jobs have disappeared under the government's watch?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, could the minister tell us how many manufacturing jobs have disappeared under his government's watch?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We were discussing the depressed growth in the country under the Conservative government and I had asked the minister to what degree his $14 billion in spending cuts contributed to this depressed growth.

I want to just remind the minister that the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said that his spending cuts have actually eliminated tens of thousands of jobs. Therefore, they certainly have contributed.

I have another question about employment. Employment growth over the last year was 0.8%. That does not even keep up with population growth. Does the minister think that less than 1% employment growth is acceptable?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, let me remind the minister. The last time a government had such weak growth during its time in power was under R.B. Bennett, during the Great Depression.

Has the government and his department analyzed what portion of this depressed growth is due to the Conservative government's $14 billion in spending cuts?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, since 2006, Canada's GDP growth has been a mere 1.77%, which is very meagre.

Could the minister tell the House which was the last government that had such weak growth during its time in power?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, that is a lot of veterans' benefits, I think.

Could the minister explain why he has consistently missed or downgraded his budgetary GDP projections in the years after the financial crisis?

[Business of Supply, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, I am very pleased to participate in committee of the whole this evening. I welcome the Minister of Finance and I will use my full 15 minutes for questions to the minister, because I have a lot of questions this evening.

The government has lapsed a total of $7.26 billion, or about 3% of total funds in the recent public accounts. Could the minister give us a projection for lapsed funding in his department for fiscal year 2014-15?

[Petitions, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns rail safety. Canadians want the government to bring in more stringent requirements for railway safety. Among those requirements are to strengthen the oversight of rail safety management systems and to increase the number of rail inspectors who audit our rail systems, trains, and rail infrastructure.

The petitioners also want the industry to invest in ways to reduce the volatility of Bakken crude, including the possibility of partial refinement at source, and to require shippers and railways to carry sufficient insurance to cover the true cost of an accident, spill, or derailment through densely populated neighbourhoods.