Industry Committee on May 28th, 2015

[John Knubley]

In terms of what the minister responded on this, I would add two things. One is that this is an issue that you should raise directly with Wayne Smith as the chief statistician. I think this is an area that has constantly been a challenge over many censuses, getting strong data for SMEs as well as for municipalities. I know this is an area where Statistics Canada has been working for many years to try to improve the relevance and the strength of that data. It's very important, as you mention, how municipalities use that data. I worked in the field in Halifax and was working very closely with some of the municipalities there and I recognized and I learned how important that data is. It's something I know Statistics Canada pays a lot of attention to.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Certain cities, such as Calgary and Edmonton, are going to do their own censuses. I fear that the municipalities and the provinces are going to be forced to conduct their own censuses to solve this problem.

[John Knubley]

Again, as the minister indicated, I think there are lots of other sources of data. I know, having worked with municipalities, you use the Statistics Canada data plus any other source of data you can find to help you do your job.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Mr. McKay.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

What is the pattern here, or is there no pattern? It is what it is.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

We're having a discussion and whoever had a question...we're just moving back and forth.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

I have a couple here.

The minister apparently said in the last committee meeting that the World Economic Forum has said that Canada has one of the best job numbers in the world, but when we check, the World Economic Forum ranks Canada at number 26 after quite a number of other countries. Number 26 doesn't exactly describe the best job numbers in the world. Can you explain the discrepancy between what the minister apparently said and the ranking of 26 in job numbers?

[John Knubley]

I think what the minister was saying was that since 2009 and that recessionary period, the Canadian economy has done well in job recovery. That's a fact. I think questions were raised about full-time versus part-time elements at play, and even on the full-time side we have seen steady increases every year since 2009.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

But the only fact is that we're number 26. The rest seems to be opinion.

[John Knubley]

Well, I think you're asking me, are the World Economic Forum estimates and rankings strong? Without going into a lot of detail, I think they tend to do this on a survey basis—a survey of CEOs—and I would just say it's not strong, qualitative data.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

So the minister's quoting not very strong, not very qualitative data when he—

[John Knubley]

No, I think the minister was saying that we've had a good record.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

The quote is, “the World Economic Forum has said that Canada has one of the best job numbers in the world”.

So he's the one who's bringing the World Economic Forum into play here.

[John Knubley]

I think, Mr. Chair, though, I was asked whether the ranking of 26 is good or not, and I gave the answer to that.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Well, they—

[John Knubley]

Honestly, I don't know whether the ranking is 26.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

But it seems to me you're dissing the data that the minister himself actually referenced.

[John Knubley]

I'm questioning whether this is the only source of data around jobs.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

I have a point of order.

It might be easier for all of us to follow if John was to cite exactly what he's talking about in terms of the information.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

I'm just citing the quote. The quote is, “the World Economic Forum—

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Not that. The information you're talking about, the number 26. What are we number 26 in? Maybe you could cite—

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

However, according to the same organization, on private sector capacity for innovation, Canada ranks 26th behind—

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Where's that from, though?

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

That's from the World Economic Forum.

[John Knubley]

Sorry, did you say “private sector innovation”?