“I want to accuse the other party of hurting young Canadians. Wages are low and youth can't find jobs. I think they caused it by letting too many foreign workers in.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Oral Questions
Employment
During discussion the Conservatives raised concerns about high youth unemployment and the number of temporary foreign workers, arguing this is driving down wages and making it harder for young Canadians to find jobs. The Liberals responded that youth employment has increased recently, the number of temporary foreign workers is down, and there are legitimate labour needs in some regions and industries. Mostly political point-scoring with stats rather than discussing any actual actions or policy changes to address the issues raised.
“I want to push back on that claim about youth jobs. Youth employment did rise a little recently. That means my party is doing good. Now watch me talk about all the taxpayer money we're spending on this so I look even better.”
“Maybe if I talk about something different, people won't notice how much debt we're in. Look at all those foreign workers! There's too many of them. That must be why young people don't have jobs. I want it to stop.”
“I don't like that. We should find a balance. I want more foreign workers in my province. And I want to change the subject by talking about another language.”
“I want the minister to tell an unemployed worker in my story that we don't need more foreign workers. I think the program for foreign workers should be replaced with something much smaller. Canadians who need jobs should get those jobs instead. Why won't the other party do what I want?”
“I don't want to talk about the unemployed worker story. The party I don't like is hypocritical. Some people in Quebec want more foreign workers. I think the other party is just trying to blame everything on foreign workers. The other parties should agree with my party about foreign workers.”
“Unemployment is high in cities. The government brings in too many foreign workers. I want available jobs to go to available Canadians instead. The government should stop listening to lobbyists. Get rid of the foreign worker program and hire Canadians!”
“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”