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Youth

During oral questions on youth, Conservative member Gabriel Hardy said government deficits and spending are hurting young people, citing rising youth unemployment and high living costs, and pointed to a Fraser Institute report and the $41 million spent by the Major Projects Office without projects underway. He asked the government to focus on young people’s future and stop overspending. Liberal ministers Joël Lightbound and Steven MacKinnon responded that the fall economic update includes $6 billion over five years for training young people for skilled trades such as construction, and said the Conservatives oppose major projects like high-speed rail, aircraft manufacturing, and port expansion that would create jobs.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

4 statements

Gabriel Hardy

Conservative

Linked statement

“The government is spending too much money while young people cannot find work. Youth unemployment has gone up from about 12% to nearly 19%. I want the Prime Minister to start focusing on young people and their future.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, after 11 years at the helm, the Liberals would have us believe that it is normal to run deficits in excess of $60 billion a year. While the Liberals are spending billions of dollars, Quebeckers are counting every penny. A new Fraser Institute report confirms that Canada is facing a real youth unemployment crisis. In 2022, the youth unemployment rate was 12.3%. Now it is close to 19%. This is unprecedented outside of a recession. Will the very Liberal Prime Minister finally start putting our young people and their future at the heart of this country’s decisions?

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Joël Lightbound

Liberal
“I want the member to support our economic plan. It spends $6 billion over five years to train young people for construction jobs.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that my colleague will support us with the fall economic update, which provides for an investment of $6 billion over five years specifically for training, to give our young people opportunities in the construction trades, given that we know the demand will be huge. This government is focused on delivering major projects, building a future for our country and ensuring we have one of the strongest economies among the G7 nations.

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Gabriel Hardy

Conservative
“The government spent $41 million on a major projects office that has not started anything. High living costs, expensive housing, and higher taxes have made life hard, and young people cannot find jobs. I want the government to stop overspending and fix the economy for young people.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the government keeps talking about building major projects, but the Major Projects Office has spent $41 million without starting a single project. The cost of living is skyrocketing, home ownership is increasingly out of reach and jobs for young people are now scarce. There are no jobs in retail, no jobs in restaurants and no jobs in hospitality. After 11 years of raising taxes, adding bureaucracy and driving our country into debt, the Prime Minister has the gall to tell our young people that they have to make sacrifices and to tell Canadians that life has never been so affordable. When will the Liberals put down the national credit card and start making decisions that will secure our young people’s future?

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Steven MacKinnon

Liberal
“We are helping young people get good jobs in skilled trades. The Conservatives oppose our major projects that create these jobs, like high-speed rail, airplane manufacturing, and port expansion in Quebec.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, my colleague just talked about training initiatives to ensure that our youth in skilled trades have access to really good jobs. Nevertheless, the Conservatives, including the member, are against all these major projects. They are against the the Alto high-speed train we will be building in Quebec, which will create 51,000 jobs. They are against yesterday’s announcement about the sale of 18 billion dollars’ worth of aircraft made in Mirabel, designed and built in Quebec. They are against expanding the Port of Montreal in Contrecoeur. The Conservatives should—

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