Finance committee  I need to add something here, because it's fascinating that they want the Competition Bureau to be involved, yet at the same time I'm hearing there should be more tariffs to protect us against China. In fact, if Option consommateurs had been doing its homework, it would know th

Finance committee  I think we need clarification here. I just could not sit and listen to all of that misinformation about the retail sector in Canada. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Finance committee  It's appropriate to use the word countervailing. The only thing I would add is that it would be a disservice to this committee not to double-check information that's provided. To simply say that four merchants in this country represent over 60% of the market is quite amazing. Se

Finance committee  The press conference did not reflect the discussion that took place. I think that would be the honest answer. The retail industry was to meet with the minister, it was not the other way around, and we were there to talk about the pressures of the Canadian dollar. So saying that

Finance committee  I think the minister was listening to the industry. I think the minister was trying to reflect the mood of consumers. I think, though, that what we were hoping would happen was to ensure that this was not a sound bite, that this was explained clearly. It's taken some time...and w

Finance committee  No, it did not. I don't think the minister would be responsible for job losses. However, what it has done is to create an enormous amount...or a great challenge for independent merchants across this country, especially the independent merchants--

Finance committee  There's absolutely no question.... I'm not sure if the minister's comments damaged as much as misled consumers into believing that if the Canadian dollar goes up, prices will go down immediately. I think the challenge here for retail in Canada is that a great majority of the prod

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. While the Retail Council of Canada submitted pre-budget policy recommendations some time ago, which recommendations we would be pleased to discuss in more detail at a later date, I've chosen to spend the time allotted to us today to discuss the Canadian

Human Resources committee  Our recommendation would be that this committee, as well as all ministers and parliamentarians, support Minister Solberg's announcement last week about setting immigration targets at 265,000 permanent residents, which we think is extremely important, and support the announcement

Human Resources committee  I will respond to that, thank you. We talked about mobility a moment ago. The experience we've had in our industry is that mobility has in fact had a negative impact on our industry. While there may be jobs in Alberta, the problem is that we're taking talented people from Quebec

Human Resources committee  Yes, briefly, we certainly think sector councils are extremely important. In fact, working with HRDC in the development of sector councils, we were able to develop certification programs. We realize that, for pay to be competitive, we need to increase the level of professionalism

Human Resources committee  In an economy as strong as we are experiencing right now, there's no question that there's competition for good employees, and while it is creating some angst for many businesses, what it does do, though, is usually put pressure on wages, and it also makes companies understand th

Human Resources committee  The measure of success was, one, participation in the program from the youth at risk who were working at or socializing with the Gateway Cafe, as one example. So number one is their signing on for the program; two is literally going through the certification program for sales ass

Human Resources committee  No, in retail we don't see the disparity as much. We used to see it at the management level, and it was specifically because there were fewer women than men. But our last research showed that in fact there are as many women at the management rank as men and that the salaries are

Human Resources committee  It's interesting that we're asked that question often, simply because there's a misconception about retail generally: that most employees make minimum wage. In fact, if we look at Alberta, for example, the average wage for a person at entry level—for cashier, for example—is $12-p