“I'm going to ignore the bad news and recession you mentioned and talk up the good job numbers instead. Look how great things are!”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Oral Questions
The Economy
In a debate on the economy during Oral Questions, the Conservatives pointed out Canada is the only G20 country in a recession with negative job growth since the beginning of the year. The Liberals mostly cherry-picked and celebrated a recent monthly jobs report showing 88,000 new jobs added, while glossing over broader economic challenges.
“I'll ignore how bad most numbers look and talk up the one youth number that looks good. Then I'll change the subject to a quote where BMO says Canada's economy is fine, to make that guy look like he's rooting against Canada. I want to keep talking about creating jobs for everyone.”
“I want my opponents to stop saying we're in a recession. I'll say there are lots of new jobs so it looks like we're doing good.”
“I'm changing the subject to good news to avoid the bad news you brought up.”
“I want to say the numbers are good today, even though my colleague said they're bad. We created lots of jobs. Youth unemployment went down. I can show him Statistics Canada numbers to prove it. The Prime Minister is trying to make things more affordable. That's good.”
“It's good that jobs are being created. The government is spending a lot of money on the Quebec City tramway. That will create jobs. The opposition MP for Quebec City didn't want this project. That's bad.”