Jim Flaherty

[Employment, January 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, under our Conservative government Canada has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the G7. Since 2006, our government has helped 2.1 million youth obtain skills training and jobs. Budget 2013 also included 5,000 additional paid internships for youth.

[Finance, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I was here in 2009. I think the hon. member was also.

She and her party voted against that budget. That was the budget that kept Canada out of double-digit unemployment, which brought Canada out of a recession the fastest of all the western democracies, after only three quarters. How short memories can be.

[Finance, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is precisely what was done by this government in January 2009, which resulted in a large deficit but did protect Canada.

It protected Canada from double-digit unemployment, much better than other western democracies. We have kept our promise to get back to a balanced budget in the medium term, which we will in 2015.

[Finance, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is focused on what matters to Canadians; that is jobs and economic growth. Economic action plan 2014 will continue our government's focus on keeping Canada's economy stronger by introducing positive measures to grow our economy, create jobs, keep taxes low, and return to balanced budgets in 2015.

I am pleased to request the designation of an order of the day for the Minister of Finance to present economic action plan 2014 on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 4 p.m.

[Employment, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have triplet young Canadians who would disagree with the member.

We have a great job creation record in this country, the best among the western democracies since the end of the recession. As I said a moment ago, they are mainly full-time jobs. That is something I think best serves young Canadians well. We also have a good education system. That serves them well as well.

[Employment, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his first question in the House.

Our government is focused on the creation of jobs. In fact, over one million net new jobs have been created in Canada since July 2009, since the end of the recession. Over 80% of those jobs have been in the private sector.

For the sixth straight year, the World Economic Forum ranked our banks the soundest in the world. As members know, it was just last week that Bloomberg rated Canada the second best place, after Hong Kong, in the world in which to do business.

[Employment Insurance, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, to take without consent—

[Employment Insurance, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we have frozen EI rates for the next three years, given the relative weakness in the world economy. We are not going to do what the Liberals did, that is, steal $50 billion from the—

[Taxation, November 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, credit unions still have access to the lower small-business tax rate. That has not changed. We have simply eliminated an outdated tax subsidy from the 1970s, when the tax system was very different. No other small business received that special tax subsidy. In fact, Quebec eliminated a comparable subsidy in 2003.

Our government continues to be a strong supporter of the credit union system in Canada.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

Do you remember something called a recession? Do you remember that?