Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise every time I get the opportunity, but in particular, for this very important private member's bill respecting Arab heritage month.
Before I get into the speech, I would like to take a moment, because it has been some time since I have risen in the House, to say what a great privilege it is to represent the great people of Northumberland—Clarke. It is a true honour to be here. I thank them very much for sending me here three times, and who knows, there may be a fourth.
The heart of today's speech is obviously Arab heritage month. I am going to start by painting the macroeconomic picture, and it will become clear as to why I am doing that.
Canada, right now, is in an economic challenge, really an economic struggle. Of course, as was said many times in the House, we are the only G7 country that is currently in a recession. Our GDP per capita has barely grown over the last 10 years. In fact, it is the worst growth per capita since the Great Depression. We also have an unemployment rate, which is rising, of almost 7%. It is nearly a third higher than the United States—