Mr. Chair, the NDP has never been known for clear economic thinking. The Dutch disease theory has been debunked by economic history and by economists across Canada, including The Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the former governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney.
The crux of the NDP's argument is the supposed impact on the manufacturing sector. Of course, if the NDP had spoken to the manufacturing sector, it might have heard that resource development actually helps Canada's manufacturing industry. Let us listen for a second to what the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters had to say: “The fact is that all Canadians stand to benefit in very real ways from the wealth created by these developments”.
However, the biggest issue with the New Democrats' theory is the hundreds of thousands of jobs created by these developments, many of them union jobs. For example, Canada's Building Trades Unions, a union representing around 200,000 workers in our energy sector, says that the NDP would be very bad for workers and the entire Canadian economy.
I wonder when the leader of the NDP will finally admit to his erroneous economics, seek forgiveness, and support the hundreds of thousands of Canadians employed in our resource sector.