Kijiji gets free parliamentary publicity

All publicity is good publicity for Kijiji, right?

The online classifieds mega-site should hope so. The company is stuck in the middle of political shouting matches related to an apparent skills shortage in Canada’s job market. When it evaluates the labour landscape, the government incorporates third-party analysis that includes data derived from Kijiji’s job board. The Conference Board of Canada and the Parliamentary Budget Office have both said that Kijiji data skews the overall job picture.

Employment Minister Jason Kenney has come to the defence of the government’s analysis, and yesterday suggested that everyone commenting on the file should admit that “none of us know exactly what is going on in the labour market of today.”

That only fuelled the NDP’s questions. Deputy Leader Megan Leslie giggled as she questioned Kenney’s admitted ignorance. Yes, she giggled in the House of Commons, which is a break from the usual harrumphing. Kenney, whose voice was hoarse, calmly and seriously countered that, for all the question marks surrounding the job market, industry has identified labour shortages in various sectors. He’d like to address those gaps.

Kijiji, now firmly entrenched in Hansard. Not that it needed any help getting clicks.