Reacting to news that Canada’s economy shrank for a 10th straight month in May, Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum charged the Harper government with taking no action to get the unemployed back to work and missing opportunities to create future economic growth.
“The recession has hit Canadians harder than economists predicted, and the Harper government’s lack of vision for creating new economic growth needs to take some of the blame for it,” said Mr. McCallum. “A stunning absence of new ideas from the federal government has put the country off track.”
Mr. McCallum was reacting to a Statistics Canada report that the economy has shrunk by 3.5 per cent compared to a year ago, the biggest decrease since 1982. In May, Canada’s economy declined by 0.5 per cent, , putting the country on pace for a 3.3 per cent annualized rate of shrinkage in the second quarter of 2009 – three times worse than in the United States over the same period.
“Where’s the progress in strengthening trade linkages with emerging economies like China and India?” asked Mr. McCallum. “Where are the incentives to develop the industries of the future, in green jobs and cutting edge health technologies?
Energy, mining, construction, manufacturing and transportation sectors all experienced declines in May.
“Absent any constructive approaches to turn these sectors around, the Harper government is playing political games with Employment Insurance, delaying infrastructure projects, and saddling the country with deficits arising from their fiscal mismanagement,” concluded Mr. McCallum. “Our economy’s productive output continues to decline, without any leadership from the federal government to encourage new industries or exports.”
