Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. According to the latest report from Quebec's ministry of income security, the number of welfare recipients has gone up again. There are now more than 797,000 people on welfare. Although massive layoffs are announced in several sectors elsewhere in Canada, the government is clearly content to rely on the economic recovery to create jobs.
Given the significant increase in the number of welfare recipients and the fact that the results of job creation programs are well below the figures quoted by the Prime Minister, does the government realize that it cannot just sit back and let the economy do the work and that it must put in place an active employment policy to provide the jobs so badly needed by Canadians and Quebecers?