“Canada lost 42,000 jobs in August, and youth unemployment is almost 13%. This happened because of the government's bad policies, not just trade fights. Conservatives have a plan to lower taxes, cut red tape, improve job training, and build more homes. When will the government use our plan to help young people get back to work?”

“Mr. Speaker, the jobs numbers that have just come out reveal 42,000 jobs lost in August. Of course, in the context of the escalating trade conflict, we are expecting to see challenges as a result of tariffs and countertariffs, but the important thing we need to understand about these latest job numbers is that they come from the reference week of August 9 to 15. The job numbers are based on a reference week. That reference week was prior to the breakdown in negotiations, a time when positive public signals were being sent by both the Canadian and American sides. These 42,000 jobs lost in August are from before the escalation we have seen. It underlines that we are seeing job losses in this country, and we are seeing an increase in youth unemployment as a result of domestic policy decisions and a failure of action on the part of government to respond to these challenges. Again, it is simply clear from the timing of these job losses. The increase in the youth unemployment rate to 12.9% was before the latest escalations. Conservatives have taken a very constructive approach on the jobs issue. We presented the government with our Conservative jobs plan last fall, with specific concrete proposals that would address the unemployment crisis, especially that which is acutely facing Canadian young people. Our priorities and proposals were in the areas of unleashing the economy, fixing immigration, fixing training and building homes where the jobs are. With regard to unleashing the economy, there is a lot of discussion about major projects today, and I think major projects are extremely important. This is why Conservatives have long called for, for instance, the repeal of Bill C-48 and Bill C-69. We do not need a piecemeal approach that allows the government to pick a few favoured projects, but a general approach that fixes the systematic problems in the impact assessment process. Moreover, it is not just about the big projects. It is also about the ability of small businesses to exist in an environment with low taxes, low red tape and much shorter permitting timelines, where someone with a big idea can make a go of it without being gummed up by the pressures associated with high taxes and high red tape. We propose specific, concrete proposals around unleashing the economy, such as, for instance, not paying capital gains tax on dollars immediately reinvested in this country. We need to be unleashing the economy, fixing immigration, addressing the misalignment between our immigration system and the needs of our economy, training Canadian young people for the jobs that exist here in Canada, offering relatively more generous grants to students pursuing opportunities in areas where there is labour demand and aligning training with the needs of the labour market. Liberals have gone in the opposite direction by cutting off many colleges’ and non-university vocational institutions’ students from being able to get those dollars. We also need to be building homes where the jobs are, making it easier for people to relocate to areas where the jobs are. This is the constructive content Conservatives have been putting into the discussion, which Liberals have failed to implement, and that is why we continue to see challenges. When will they take our constructive ideas to help young people get back to work?”

“The government should be judged by its results, not its good intentions. Canada lost 42,000 jobs before the trade conflict got worse. The Prime Minister says life is affordable, but Canadians are not experiencing that.”

“Mr. Speaker, my friend across the way spoke with great gusto and passion about his good intentions. He said, “We in the government want good things. That is what we want.” I did not come here to debate their intentions, actually. I came here to debate the results. Good intentions are not going to feed or clothe anyone in this country, and the government will be judged by the results. It will be judged by the concrete outcomes. I spoke about jobs and the 42,000 jobs lost, and the member tried to refer to global events. Again, I made this very clear. The government will always try to play with the timelines, but this was before the escalation in the trade conflict. We had lost 42,000 jobs beforehand. The government will be judged by the results. The Prime Minister has said that affordability has never been better. Canadians are experiencing it differently, and it is the results that are going to matter for the government.”