Ralph Goodale

[Employment, March 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, this is a threadbare government in abject denial. It has increased taxes in each of its last five budgets. It has the worst growth record in eight decades. Job creation is only half of what the previous government achieved. Job quality is the worst in 25 years. One third of those soon retiring have no savings. Consumer debt is the highest ever. Federal debt has grown by nearly $5,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.

Does the minister not understand that a big majority of Canadians want something new, different and better than this?

[Employment, March 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the previous government always ran a trade surplus while the current government has 49 months of a trade deficit. It is also weak on jobs, both in quantity and quality.

When CIBC reported that reality, the finance minister simply trashed it. CIBC is a sham, he said. However, it is not just CIBC. The same jobs analysis came from TD Bank, the Bank of Canada, the OECD, Morgan Stanley, York University, the PBO and many others.

Are they all lying? Are all of them a sham?

[Employment, February 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister would not recognize a balanced budget because he has never met one.

There are 140,000 more jobless Canadians than six years ago. Job quality is suffering. York University says that low wage employment in Ontario has jumped by 50%. The OECD has said that Canada is the third worst country in the world for crappy jobs.

The government's former employment minister admits wages have barely kept pace with inflation. The Bank of Canada says that 200,000 young Canadians are underemployed and living in the basement.

Is that good enough for the government?

[Employment, February 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of facts, in the nine years since the government took office, job creation has been half of what it was in the nine years before.

The recession ended nearly six years ago, and still the jobs record of the Conservative is anaemic. Last year, they first bragged about creating 186,000 new jobs, but had to admit it was actually one-third less than that, barely 120,000 jobs, and that was down from the year before, which was down from the year before that.

Why is the government such a failure at generating jobs?

[Rail Transportation, February 25th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, about a month ago I asked the Minister of Transport about new data on grain shipments being published weekly by the AG Transport Coalition. The latest figures say that the railways have supplied on time only 44% of the grain cars ordered by their customers. In total, they are nearly 20,000 cars behind; shipments to the U.S. are especially poor; but CN is doing better than CP.

Does the minister agree that these figures are accurate? If so, do they represent, in her opinion, suitable and adequate accommodation for grain shippers?

[The Economy, February 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the government's own former employment minister said “wage rates have barely kept pace with inflation...”.

Economic growth is also crucial to balancing the government's books. Conservatives have failed to generate growth, so they have to concoct a balance: 70% of infrastructure funds get punted into 2019, $1 billion gets clawed back from veterans, $10 billion is gone from DND, and the Mounties cannot keep up with child porn. Why? It is so that those earning $233,000 can get the biggest tax break. How smart is that?

[The Economy, February 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, greater economic growth is critical to lifting the fortunes of the middle class.

Since 2006, the government has had the worst growth record of any Canadian government in 80 years, a paltry 1.7%. Since Conservatives have come to power, job creation in Canada is less than half of what it was before they came to power. Wage growth is also down by nearly one third. The middle class is struggling just to get by, let alone get ahead.

Why is there no plan for growth, jobs, or fairness?

[The Economy, February 20th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the New York Times story said that the situation was that the U.S. economy had fallen back, not that the Canadian economy had moved forward.

The late Jim Flaherty said that income splitting was too expensive and would cost $12 billion over the planning cycle. He also said that it would be unfair, because 86% of Canadians would never qualify.

It worsens inequality; it does nothing for growth. Will the government at least use this budget hiatus to do two things: recycle that $12 billion into the pockets of real middle-class families, not those earning $233,000; and invest in municipal infrastructure to drive jobs and growth?

[The Economy, February 20th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the government just drives by all the worries of Canada's middle class and all those who are working so hard just to get there. Their earnings are stagnant, but their debt has ballooned to 164% of disposable income. Three-quarters do not have a pension, and in 40% of empty nester households their adult children have moved back home. Their expectations of progress, of upward mobility from one generation to the next, are frustrated.

Why is the government's only priority an income splitting tax break that would pay the most to those earning $233,000?

[The Economy, February 19th, 2015]

However, there are no jobs and no growth, Mr. Speaker.

Canada needs to be far more aggressive on public infrastructure. Who said so? The G20, the IMF, the Bank of Canada, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, all of the premiers, every municipality, every think tank from C.D. Howe to the Canada West Foundation, the Chambers of Commerce, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the Canadian Labour Congress, and many more. The only one who is saying that the feds are doing enough is the beleaguered government, and it cannot even get its act together to table a budget. If it will not lead, will you please get out of the way.