Mr. Speaker, I had asked the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development a question in the House. My question had to with the fact that, not long ago, representatives of a company in Alberta came to northeastern New Brunswick to recruit employees. They came to see whether people wanted to go to work in Alberta. In northeastern New Brunswick, because the unemployment rate is under 16%, it is fine if people have an opportunity to get a job.
I had asked the government what it was doing to set up programs to help provinces and regions with high unemployment, so that young people are not leaving their home for work elsewhere when jobs can be created locally and retired people are not the only ones who stay in the province. Nothing is being done about this. And I have no qualms about saying this, because retirees themselves are saying that they will be the only ones left in the province.
What is the government doing to either create jobs or help plants get into secondary and tertiary processing? There is nothing happening, absolutely nothing. When we take a close look at the budget, we realize that it does not say anything about the government doing something to create jobs. It was exactly the same thing with the minister's reply. He said that money was given to New Brunswick, but we can see that no program was put in place to create jobs.
Therefore, now that the government has had the opportunity to think about its reply, and to look at what it could do to help rural areas create jobs, I would like to hear what it has to say. I am anxious to hear the government's reply.