There are a lot of things wrong with this motion. First of all, it's clearly an obstructive motion, in the sense that we have virtually the same motion being presented in five separate committees. Right at the start, there's the obstructive component of it, because obviously we're clogging up the business of five committees as we deal with this.
It's already been noted that the finance committee dealt with the motion and voted against it. Every single word in our motion was contained in their motion, plus a few extras. Fortunately, in that committee, at least three Liberal members, including their finance critic, voted against it. So I'm hoping we'll get the same result here and will actually move on to this important employability study we're dealing with.
What else is wrong? You have a motion made in committee, kind of symptomatic of the ad hoc approach of the Bloc, that would propose to spend an amount equivalent to 2% of the federal budget via a one-paragraph motion made in committee. There's something wrong with that.
The Bloc member says he's unhappy, but I would note that if you look at transcripts from this committee, it's always doom and gloom with this particular member. Notwithstanding the fact that outside the committee I find him to be a very amenable man, inside the committee it's always doom and gloom.
We're sitting in a situation in which our economy is one of the strongest in the world. Under this Conservative government, our employment rate right now is higher than it's been in three decades. With the new steps we've taken, I would point out that we are ahead of the curve right now, having come out with an economic statement in the fall. The federal government will soon be taking less money from Canadians than it has in half a century. Of course, the flip side to that is that Canadians will have more money to spend on the things they need.
If you had a chance to read the C.D. Howe Institute report on poverty, an organization named after a former Liberal cabinet minister, poverty rates are actually going down in this country, contrary to what you have to say. It's not to say that we don't still have some work to do, but poverty rates are coming down. To that end, we have a very important poverty study that's been instigated and pushed by a member of the NDP. I think we're all looking forward to getting on with that study. Things like this just bog us down.
I would encourage us to deal with this motion quickly, vote it down, get on with finishing the employability study, and then get to work on this poverty study that I think is so important to all of us.