Statement made on 17 September 2009 by Senator Jerahmiel Grafstein (retired)
Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein:
Honourable senators, I have an urgent question for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Last Monday, in Washington, D.C., I attended a conference hosted by The New Republic dealing with the current financial and economic crisis and looking ahead.
At that conference, a senior economic adviser to President Obama predicted that unemployment, currently hovering at 10 per cent in the United States, will rise in the years 2010 and 2011. Obviously, this is not good news for Canada.
In Wednesday's Globe and Mail, it was reported that unemployment in Toronto was at 11.8 per cent in August, up from 8.8 per cent the previous year. This number of 11.8 per cent does not include those who are not on welfare or EI, or those who are first-time job seekers, students, part-time workers and non-first-time job seekers. Based on some estimates, it means that unemployment in Toronto is hovering between 15 per cent and 20 per cent — the highest in my living memory.
The stimulus package focused on construction and the short term is obviously not working. Toronto, the engine of growth, is stalling and spiralling downward.
What new measures is the government planning to ensure that Canadians can find jobs, in particular, students? Students in Toronto were unable to find jobs this past summer to pay for their rising tuition costs.
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