Debates of Feb. 6th, 2009

The Economy

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had been listening, he would know that I was reflecting on the fact that the Prime Minister recognized this early on, as did the finance minister in the fall 2007 economic statement.

We put in tax cuts. We put in measures to ensure jobs were continuing to be created. Our economic action plan, which will be tabled in this House today, provides more measures to ensure we maintain the jobs that we have and that we slow down the loss of jobs. However, if we cannot get that through this House, we cannot provide any help to Canadians.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we learned this morning from Statistics Canada that the manufacturing sector lost over 100,000 jobs in January, nearly a third of them in Quebec. That is the largest monthly loss ever since comparable data have been available.

Given that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, does not believe that the Conservative plan will produce the desired results in terms of employment, will the Prime Minister admit that his budget is off the mark and that it puts the manufacturing and forestry sectors at a disadvantage?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again we are getting into an academic debate of whose numbers are right. If we look at the private sector forecasts that have been put forward in the last six months, there is not a lot of credibility in those numbers.

The numbers are changing by the day but the important thing to remember is that Canadians are in difficult times, through no fault of their own. This is a global recession. We are treating all provinces the same and all industries the same. We are trying to provide a plan that will help those industries. I would ask all members to please help us get that through.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite interesting to see the parliamentary secretary question the numbers issued by Statistics Canada, a federal agency with an international reputation.

Tembec and Domtar have recently announced layoffs. So have Bombardier and Bell Helicopter. Yet the government offers mere crumbs to the manufacturing and aerospace sectors. The Minister of Finance is only just beginning to peep out from under his blindfold and is now talking about perhaps adding further support measures.

Will the Prime Minister correct the situation and announce a real support plan, as the Bloc Québécois has been calling for for several months?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I assume the stimulus package that the hon. member is talking about is the one he voted against. That is an incredible statement for someone to make who did not even read the budget, who did not even address that and who actually is not part of bringing the stimulus package forward.

I am not suggesting that Statistic Canada's numbers are wrong. I am just suggesting that we need 308 people to actually help Canadians by voting for this implementation.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more than 200,000 jobs have been lost in Canada since October, and the Parliamentary Budget Officer and Mouvement Desjardins both predict huge increases in the number of unemployed. Unfortunately, if nothing is done, only one unemployed person in two will qualify for benefits, even if they are extended for five weeks.

Does the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development understand that because of the difficult economic situation, employment insurance must be improved, with the top priority being better access to benefits?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, it is sad when even one person loses his or her job. That is why we created our economic action plan to help everyone who has unfortunately been laid off. That is why we are asking for the support of all our partners in this House to move our plan forward, to protect jobs, to create new jobs and to keep Canada's economy moving.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, among the thousands of unemployed are workers aged 55 and over who cannot be retrained. The minister has to stop denying this and making the mistake of proposing retraining measures instead of an income support program for older workers.

Will the minister give up on her ideological stubbornness and introduce an older worker support program? Time is of the essence.

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, the member is wrong. In fact, a few years ago, we launched an initiative targeting older workers. We had success with this program, which is why we have expanded it. The program helps workers learn new skills so that they can continue working. The opposition wants to put these people out to pasture; we have confidence in older workers.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, with the figures released today, over a quarter of a million Canadians have been thrown out of work in the last 90 days. In January alone, the increase was three times what was forecasted, leaving 129,000 workers scrambling. This is only the beginning.

Canadians are not looking for whom to blame, they just want to know they are going to get the help they need to weather this economic storm. The parliamentary secretary says that we should get serious. Okay, let us do that.

Will the government finally acknowledge the urgent need to eliminate the two-week waiting period and increase accessibility to EI right now for those in need?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member says that she wants to create jobs and that is what we want to do for those who are unfortunate enough to lose theirs. That is why, in our economic action plan, we are expanding work-sharing. That is why we are making unprecedented investments in retraining those who have lost their jobs, so they can participate in the jobs of tomorrow.

The hon. member wants to make it easier for people to not take advantage of those opportunities in the future. She is also blocking it by not supporting our budget implementation act, which will be tabled today. I encourage her to change her position.

Infrastructure

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this recession is looking a lot worse than anyone forecasted. There are now 1.3 million Canadians looking for work, yet the government's plan is clearly too little, too late and its infrastructure rules are too stringent to lead the economic recovery that Canadians need.

We do not need to wait to see if things will get worse. They are worse right now.

Will the government increase its stimulus package and remove the matching infrastructure rules that are slowing down the country's economic recovery?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we have come forward with a series of new programs and initiatives designed to put a shot in the arm of the Canadian economy in every region of the country. We have indicated to our provincial and territorial partners that we are prepared to accelerate the existing building Canada programs so more money can get into the hands of workers right across the country.

Step by step, we feel that infrastructure can be a very important place to help provide economic growth. We are particularly looking at a number of projects in her home community of Vancouver, where we were very concerned with the unemployment rates that came out today.

Employment Insurance

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a quarter of a million people have lost their jobs in three months. In January alone, 129,000 Canadians, 30,000 of them in Quebec, three times more than expected, lost their jobs. Unemployment is skyrocketing: it is at 7% in Trois-Rivières, 8% in Montreal, 8.5% in the Saguenay, and 11% in Windsor. Employment insurance eligibility criteria are appalling; half of these people are excluded.

When can we expect changes that will help these people? They need help now.

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important that we recognize how sobering the job loss numbers are this month. Unfortunately, we expect to see more of that over 2009. That is why we, as a House of Commons, have to take action now to ensure our economic action plan moves forward quickly to help these people by providing them with EI assistance and extra opportunities for training for the jobs of the future.

We consulted Canadians across the country. They told us they wanted more benefits. We are giving them five weeks more at the end. I urge the—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Mississauga--Streetsville.

The Economy

[Bonnie Crombie, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today's job loss numbers in Ontario alone are staggering, 71,000 jobs are gone. While it focused on photo ops, the government failed to deliver billions in infrastructure and investments that could have saved them.

The Prime Minister claims he acted a year ago, yet we have negative productivity growth for the last 18 months.

Why did the Prime Minister fail to read the writing on the wall? Why did he fail to act for so long?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again I would implore the House to recognize the fact that we have a plan in place. Part of it is delivering infrastructure. Part of it is extending EI. Part of it is providing tax cuts to businesses so they can continue to employ people.

However, we cannot get any of that accomplished if the opposition continues to hold up the legislation. The Liberals are supporting us on this. We encourage members to help get this through the House. We are planning on having extended hours at our committee meetings when we get it there. It is imperative we get it there.

[Bonnie Crombie, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to even acknowledge that Ontario's auto, forestry and manufacturing sectors were getting pushed to the brink.

Instead of taking action, the Minister of Finance encouraged people not to invest in Ontario, and the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities took his advice.

As a result, with 40% of the population, Ontario was hit with 55% of the job losses last month. That is 71,000 Ontarians. Why?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are obviously tremendously concerned with the economic numbers coming out of the province of Ontario. The good news is we are working co-operatively with the provincial government on a series of initiatives to ensure that we provide needed shot in the arm to the Ontario economy.

I can indicate for the member from the greater Toronto area that we will be breaking ground in short order on the Spadina subway extension. That will put a lot of Canadians and Ontarians to work.

We also have a lot of initiatives with respect to transportation in the GTA, including a major retrofit and redesign of Union Station, which will be another example of the Government of Ontario and the city of Toronto working co-operatively to get the people of the greater Toronto region to work.

Employment Insurance

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps saying that Canada is not the U.S. Our economic situation is different. In fact, the Prime Minister is absolutely right because in—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. member for Kings—Hants has the floor.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

And he may want to wait, Mr. Speaker. The Prime Minister is only right because our January job loss rate was twice as bad as that of the United States.

Will the Conservatives finally do something to help the unemployed by reducing the two week waiting for EI, speeding up the processing of EI and fixing the eligibility rules for the 71,000 Ontarians who have lost their jobs? Why should they not qualify for the EI benefits that they desperately need right now?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, prior to tabling our economic action plan, we did consultations across Canada, an unprecedented number of consultations with ordinary Canadians, with industry and with a wide range of stakeholders, including our provincial and territorial counterparts. They asked us for improvements, and we are offering them. We are expanding training so people will be prepared for the jobs of the future. They asked for five weeks. They asked for more benefits. We are offering five weeks. The opposition members have asked for two. Why can they not take yes for an answer?