Quebec is 47th out of 60...arghhh!...

In a study entitled "Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States" prepared by the Fraser Institute, Quebec didn't fare so well.

The paper studied;

"Labour performance, such as job creation, unemployment, and productivity, which compares Canadian provincial and US state labour market performance."

Judging the 50 American States combined with the 10 Canadian provinces, Quebec ranked 47th out of 60.

It isn't surprising that Quebec did so poorly, the atrocious placement is largely a result of the province's abysmal productivity rate. The Province's overly generous time-off work programs, such as parental leave, and extended maternity leave, results in Quebeckers working less.

If it weren't for Newfoundland, who were 55th, we'd have the worst performance in Canada.

How did other Canadian province's fare?

Alberta was Number 1 out of the 60 provinces and states.
Yup! - Number 1 in all of North America.

It's somewhat depressing.

The Rest of Canada? Here's how the provinces rank...

Alberta #01
Saskatchewan #08
British Colombia #09
Manitoba #21
Ontario #35
New Brunswick #39
PEI #41
Nova Scotia #45
Quebec #47
Newfoundland #55
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Talk about low productivity, a story about a City of Montreal employee in Saturday's Journal de Montreal may be the worst case of an unproductive worker that I've ever heard of.

Jean-Claude Bourdon, was employed by the City of Montreal since 1990, as an inspector of fire hydrants. His job was to let the water flow out of the hydrant for a few minutes to see if it worked properly.

He was to inspect between 15 and 20 hydrants per day, in a well defined territory. His shift started at 7 AM and ended at 4 PM, four days a week.

Apparantly his behavior came under suspicion and his employer put him under surveillance.

A GPS device was also placed aboard the vehicle, which was provided by the City.

What his bosses found out was much worse than they imagined.

An analysis of the GPS reports showed that some days, he spent 10 minutes at work, others 28, others 30 or 60 minutes.

When confronted, he told his boss,'it wasn't a big deal and anyways he had a house and a Jeep to pay for."

The City fired him in 2005.

Mr. Bourdon then challenged his dismissal, complaining that the city had no right to watch him using GPS and that the City had encroached on his privacy.

It has taken over four years to have that termination confirmed.

It's a good example why Quebec is 47th out of 60.