Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister displayed amazing ignorance about how jobs are created when he said a few weeks ago that it is now up to business to spend money to create jobs.
How would the Prime Minister like it if he had a GIC paying 6 per cent interest but at year's end the bank sent a letter saying sorry, it created unnecessary jobs with the interest it was supposed to pay him, so there is no return on the investment? That is exactly what he is asking business to do, to create unnecessary jobs at the expense of its investment returns.
Businesses will create jobs when it is in their interests to do so, when they need more employees. Business has told the government how that can happen. Stop the deficit financing. Start running surpluses so that taxes can be reduced.
With more money in the pockets of consumers demand will increase and companies will need lots more employees. It is not a hard concept to grasp.
If the Prime Minister truly wants to help create jobs, budget surpluses and tax reductions are all it takes.