Mr. Chair, I would be very surprised to find out that neither the minister nor those he works with, including the most senior federal finance officials, had access to these numbers, but I will tell him anyway. Since this government came to power in January 2006, over 300,000 manufacturing sector jobs have been lost, 116,000 of those in Quebec alone.
The minister is right in saying that the total number of jobs has gone up. Manufacturing jobs allow workers to earn a good living to support their families. These jobs have been around for generations and most of them come with retirement benefits.
That is important not only for workers, but for future generations. Sustainable development is not just about the environment. It is also about society and the economy. Socially, we are transferring this responsibility to future generations.
If the minister bothered to check, he would find that most of the replacement jobs are in construction, a very unstable sector where the slightest hiccup in the economy can put an end to these new jobs.