House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 67% of the vote.
Employment June 5th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, let me just make it clear for the member. One thing we will not do is kill jobs by raising taxes. One thing we will not do is ruin the economic future of young people by loading up massive increases in spending, deficit and debt, which would lead to permanent tax increases for young people.
We will not follow the example of the Government of Ontario of reckless deficits, massive and irresponsible spending, and higher taxes which end up killing jobs. We will not do that.
Employment June 5th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that Canada has one of the lowest rates of youth unemployment in the developed world. Since 2006, we have helped over 2.1 million youth obtain skills training and jobs.
Of course there is still more to do, which is why in this year's budget we announced support for internships in high-demand fields. It is why we launched the apprenticeship loan. For the first time, people in Red Seal apprenticeship programs will be able to get interest-free loans, just like university students do. We want to encourage young people to get the skills that will lead to bright futures.
Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 June 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for participating in the debate at this late hour. I would, however, take exception to many of his assertions, which are counter-factual.
One assertion in particular that I would like to rebut—and I know it is a popular and fun talking point that is always good for a chuckle—is the notion that the government's labour force information comes from one particular online job-posting service. That is ridiculous. In fact, the government primarily gets its labour market information from the labour force survey conducted by Statistics Canada.
I think the member was referring to a Conference Board of Canada study. It was conducted by that independent and highly regarded think tank and used 138 separate datasets, one of which was job postings on, yes, Kijiji. The Department of Finance then made reference to that Conference Board study. When it became clear to the Conference Board that some of the postings were double-posted on that one website, it removed the dataset from its study, so we are talking about one of 138 datasets in a Conference Board study to which the Department of Finance made reference.
While there is no general labour shortage in Canada, would the member not agree that we are facing gaps in some regions and industries and that we all need to work together to address those gaps?
Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 June 4th, 2014
There are none.
Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 June 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the honourable member talked about a lot of things, but I would like to ask him a question about one in particular.
He said that the Canada job grant, proposed by the government in the 2013 budget, was a failure. Does he not know that 13 provinces and territories signed a agreement in principle for the Canada job grant, that we concluded final agreements with 12 provinces and territories to provide the grant to those jurisdictions and that the Canada job grant was endorsed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, Polytechnics Canada and the National Association of Career Colleges?
That is almost all of the business organizations in our country, such as the building trades council of the AFL-CIO and many other labour unions. Is the member saying that all the major business organizations, many of the major unions and all of the provinces and territories are wrong about the Canada job grant?
Foreign Affairs June 3rd, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the Kingdom of Spain is a very close ally of Canada. It is one of the world's great democracies, thanks in part to the leadership of King Juan Carlos, who oversaw the successful transition of his country from dictatorship to democracy, who for four decades has served his people with dignity, and who suppressed an attempted military coup in 1981.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, we would like to join the people of Spain in thanking His Majesty King Juan Carlos for his service and for his friendship to Canada. Indeed, we wish him, his family, and his successor, Prince Felipe, every success.
Employment June 2nd, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right to raise this issue. I find it odd that employers are having a hard time filling available jobs in a market where there is high employment and a lot of people are receiving employment insurance benefits.
That is why we carried out the EI reform last year—which I think was perfectly reasonable—in order to encourage the unemployed and employment insurance recipients to actively look for work.
We will be making additional changes to the temporary foreign worker program to more strongly encourage employers to hire local employees.
Employment June 2nd, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the member raises a very legitimate question, which is precisely why our government brought in sensible changes to the employment insurance program last year. It makes no sense that people would be collecting employment insurance benefits right next to employers for which they are applying to work.
We want to encourage unemployed people to be connected to employers that are offering jobs and to encourage those employers to offer the jobs to the local population first. That is what those EI reforms are designed to do. That is what the NDP opposed, and it makes no sense at all.
Employment May 28th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to see that the Leader of the Opposition has been converted to free-market theory. I congratulate him. Who knows? He might actually change his position and start supporting tax cuts instead of tax increases.
Of the temporary foreign workers who are paid at minimum wage, 99% were in the seasonal agriculture worker program, which the NDP wants to keep, and the live-in caregiver program, for which we have since raised the prevailing wage rate. For the other 1%, the prevailing wage rate, the median, was actually at the minimum level in each province, but the vast majority are well above that.
Employment May 28th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, it is clear from his question that the Leader of the Opposition is mistaken as usual. Employers are required to offer any jobs that are available to Canadians first, and they must advertise those jobs at the average wage in Canada. If qualified Canadians do not respond to the ad, then employers can apply to the temporary foreign worker program.
We are going to make changes to the program to ensure that Canadians are given priority in the labour market and that the jobs are there for them when they want to apply.