Finance Committee on Oct. 19th, 2011

[Mark Fried]

And in absolute numbers.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Now, when you take that into consideration, do you also take into consideration that we have one of the coldest climates in the world? We use a lot of fossil fuels to heat, and as individuals we drive 30% farther than any other country in the world.

[Mark Fried]

I think there are reasons why we are. The point is to address it in some way so that we no longer do.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Absolutely. Thank you, I appreciate that.

I would like to address my next question to Mr. Brunnen. I am from Fort McMurray, as I mentioned, and one of the largest issues we have right now is unemployment. I noticed in your paper that you encourage government to withdraw stimulus and restrain overall spending so Canada may once again rely on business to drive the economy.

I agree with you. As a Conservative, I have to tell you I couldn't have written it better myself. But when we have a situation in Fort McMurray, where we have no employees and we can't find any, and we have other places in Canada that have high unemployment rates, such as Windsor and some parts of eastern Canada, I have difficulty with that.

We have to treat Canada as one country. I'm wondering whether or not the Calgary chamber would support tax credits to get people from one part of Canada to another, either temporarily or full-time, both for transfers and in cases of housing.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you, Mr. Jean.

Just a very brief response. We do have bells. We are going to take the answer, and then unfortunately the committee has to go to the chamber.

[Ben Brunnen]

I have a couple of points. That's a really good question. Labour shortages are a challenge in Alberta, particularly northern Alberta. There are some regional issues there.

We certainly encourage a review of employment disincentives, particularly reforming existing programs such as EI programs, to encourage workers from areas of high unemployment to mobilize to areas of low unemployment. We understand that HRSDC is currently undertaking consultations in this regard, and we fully expect to put forward a submission. Finding ways to remove disincentives to mobilize to where the opportunities are is good economic and fiscal policy, and it is good policy for Canadians to encourage wealth creation and business development.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you.

I want to apologize for cutting Mr. Jean short. Unfortunately, I can't get around it. The bells are ringing, which means we all have to go to the chamber.

Colleagues, just very quickly, I do have to pass a budget, because I have to go to liaison committee tomorrow. Do I have approval for this budget?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Chair, I have not seen the budget.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

I'll just take the opportunity to thank our witnesses very much.

Thank you very much for your presentations and your answers to our questions.

The meeting is adjourned.