Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from St. John's on his very eloquent speech in the Chamber and on the contribution he has already made on behalf of all Newfoundland and Labrador citizens.
He has spoken with a very strong voice. I know he has a great deal of credibility, particularly in the area of education. As an education minister in his home province he was very intimately aware of the challenges that face students. He obviously has a continued grasp and understanding of the serious problem of the brain drain that affects Newfoundland in a very significant way and the country generally.
We are losing our best and our brightest to countries like the United States and to Europe. We train and invest in young people and then they leave to make a contribution to another economy, in the hopes of maybe someday coming back when the employment situation improves.
I wonder if the hon. member would elucidate further on what we could do with respect to the brain drain issue that is facing his province and facing my home province of Nova Scotia. We are losing our best people before they have a chance to make the contribution that will build the country that we all want to see, to reach the potential that exists but somehow eluded our grasp for many years.
We all recall that we were told the 20th century would belong to Canada. We are not there yet. It does not look like we will get there under the unsteady hand of the current government.
Could the hon. member tell us what is the first step we will have to take? I am not only referring to the area of education, but what can we do to bring about change that will help us reach this potential?