Monday, September 19, 2011

Bob Rae's "Jobs Crisis"

Canadian Parliament resumed today with a very spirited episode of Question Period. At one point Liberal leader Bob Rae demanded that the government produce a plan for dealing with "the jobs crisis". Really Bob? You consider 7.3% unemployment to be a crisis? For the record the United States and the European Union have unemployment rates hovering over 9%, so when compared to the rest of our G7 and G20 colleagues we are doing quite well. We have a manageable debt, solid employment, and a strong banking system. To call this a crisis is absurd. Of course there is a threat of a global economic slowdown that will have a negative effect on Canada's economy, but we will enter that slowdown in a stronger economic position that most industrialized nations.

The only nice thing that I can say about Bob Rae today is that his public speaking skills are so much more advanced than Nycole Turmel that I'm not sure the Dippers amateur hour will be able to keep the Liberals at bay.

6 comments:

  1. It's a crisis for anyone without a job . . . and let's not forget all of those statistics that have fallen off the unemployment rolls.
    Our economy is comparatively better, yes, and I'm not advocating government intervention in *job creation* but the affect of unemployment statistics on people who have jobs is a shrug. On people who are unemployed, it affects every aspect of their lives. Trust me.

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  2. So then is 5% unemployment also a crisis?

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  3. Who is "Bob Rae" does he have a "real" job?
    Cheers Bubba

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  4. "So then is 5% unemployment also a crisis?"

    Obviously not. If only 5% are unemployed it's cake eating time. Let them eat cake.

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  5. And yet every store front has signs that they are hiring..???Are the unemployed too proud to work for minimum???They certainly would be fighting for these jobs if they had no free handouts,like welfare to rely on..Boy these people would not have survived during the great depression.I would like to know how many of the 7.3% are healthy and are milking the system.

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  6. Wonder where you're living, bertie. Maybe we should move.

    I'm one of those not too proud to work for minimum, but try having a career, being laid off, looking for work, being rejected dozens of times, submitting resumes and getting nothing... not even an interview.
    Try submitting most of your resumes online because no one wants to bother with actually reading them, they just have a program that searches for the right *key words* and you fall through the cracks if you don't have the proper words.
    Or try applying to dozens of agencies and despite your work history, being hired on for grunt work -- and taking it but then you can't get time off for the interview in your field when it comes ---- do you throw up the crappy job for the mere prospect of the better?
    Or you get the interview with your choice job and you're one of dozens who don't get a second one or a even an email saying *thanks, but no thanks*.
    Then try dumbing down your resume so that maybe a minimum wage employer will hire you, although most of them won't bother hiring someone who is just biding time until something in their field comes along -- finally getting a job, settling for minimum --- and all the things that go with it -- trouble booking off time to schedule interviews for jobs in your *real* field.

    There are loads of people not lazy . . . how lovely it must be in your simple little world. Must be nice to be in a position to judge. Lucky you.

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