Employment Minister defends Economic Action Plan
Posted January 20, 2014 3:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Federal Jobs Minister is standing behind the effectiveness of Canada’s Economic Action Plan despite criticism following employment numbers last month. But he’s not satisfied with the numbers either.
Employment Minister Jason Kenney says criticism the action plan has failed to create stable, full time jobs that pay a living wage isn’t fair:
“People who say that they’re always part-time ‘Mc-Jobs’ have always said that. And if that were true, no one would be working full time,” says Kenney, adding employment numbers in parts of the West is proof criticism is wrong. “We have full employment in parts of the prairies and the Interior of British Columbia.”
Kenney says the main problem was manufacturing job losses in Ontario due to rising energy costs, but admits the numbers weren’t great.
“I was disappointed obviously. I mean, we’d had a couple of really strong months,” he admits and says more needs to be done going forward especially when it comes to getting young Canadians working.
