Thank you.
In fact, I was reading this very exciting copy of “Canada's Economic Action Plan--A Fourth Report to Canadians”. I would encourage all those people listening, all Canadians, to get a copy of it. It's fairly interesting and it gives me a lot of confidence in the Canadian economy.
On page 15, they talk about “Overall Contraction in Real GDP During the Recession”. We actually fare extremely well at -3%, compared to countries such as Japan and Germany, which are up around 7% and 8%. In fact, further on, it talks about business confidence. It appears on page 17 that we are well above the historical average, at some 6% or 7%, in business confidence, just in the third quarter of 2009. It appears that whatever we're doing is working. In fact, real residential investment and renovation growth, on page 19, show an increase of 8% to 12% in the last two quarters.
Indeed, I believe from what I've heard in question period and just generally, and from what I've read in this book, that it appears this government is moving forward not just on infrastructure, but on changing some of the employment programs and other ministries to get people to work faster. On page 60--I know I sound like a commercial, but it was quite interesting to read this today--they say, “The number of Canadian workers benefiting from work-sharing has increased more than sixfold since the beginning of the year”.
I would suggest that some of the moves by this government are in more than just infrastructure and transportation; they're on a multifold ministry. Is that fair to say, Deputy Minister?