Mr. Speaker, on February 6, the Minister of Finance boasted that more than 438,000 jobs had been created in Canada and that this was the best performance in a decade. Unfortunately for Canadians and Quebecers, Statistics Canada's annual figures are nowhere near this level. In fact, 261,000 jobs were created in 1994.
If we compare these figures with those recorded at the end of the early 1980s recession, last year's 261,000 jobs should be compared with an average of 347,000 jobs created annually between 1985 and 1988. The minister has nothing to brag about.
Especially since, with the increase in population, 825,000 jobs would have to be created to return to prerecession employment levels.