Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. A study made public yesterday by Statistics Canada shows that women in particular are hard hit by the recession. The drop in labour force attachment of women which has been observed since the beginning of the recession is reversing historical trends. Women between 15 and 24 years of age are the main victims of this recent decline in the female labour force.
Does the Minister of Finance recognize that women, and young women in particular, are being hit harder than anyone else by the current economic difficulties and does he intend to put in place a real job creation strategy that will benefit women as well?