International Trade committee  If I may, I think the leaders established the process in 2005. It was a very public process. It was made clear from the beginning that the intention is to move forward, as Mr. Campbell suggested, not through any great leaps but in very practical, incremental ways. Last year, in establishing the North American Competitiveness Council, leaders essentially recognized that areas like regulation and border management are highly complex, and given the sprawling number of potential items for action, they would benefit from advice from those who would be most directly affected.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the opportunity to appear and discuss with you the Canada-United States relationship. As many of you probably know, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives has been a strong supporter for decades of efforts to make the border between Canada and the United States less rather than more of a barrier to both people and goods.

Human Resources committee  If I may, I think the committee has already been presented with any number of studies that have addressed the question from an academic point of view. I think I'd come at it from a very practical point of view. Simply, if you tilt the balance it will have an impact on the margins, things like cost, and because of the profiles of some of these sectors, it may have a reputational impact on foreign investment in particular.

Human Resources committee  I think I addressed that question in an earlier round, to Mr. Silva if I'm not mistaken. I don't see any way to finesse a little amendment to somehow make this neutral or to find the right balance. I think I would agree with my colleagues here that we've carefully worked out a balance in this country and there's no compelling reason that we should be shifting that balance.

Human Resources committee  Not off the top of my head, no.

Human Resources committee  If I may, the short answer to that question is a yes or a no. I don't think this is a problem that can be addressed by trying to fiddle at the margins. But to come back to the question of credibility, I don't think anybody here is predicting that this bill by itself is going to cause the apocalypse.

Human Resources committee  No, it doesn't. The point is that this bill doesn't change that right; all it does is change the balance of power at the bargaining table and therefore change the likely outcomes over time.

Human Resources committee  Again, the question is if it's in the national interest to change the balance of power that currently exists.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely.

Human Resources committee  Of course.

Human Resources committee  Our members, like individuals who have to negotiate a contract on their own as opposed to collectively, are in a situation where they have to justify compensation based on performance. Collective bargaining is a slightly different context, in the sense that you're bargaining for a group of people, and obviously performance still matters because if the company can't make money, sooner or later it's going to go out of business and people will lose their jobs.

Human Resources committee  If I may speak to that point, the fact is that what we're talking about here is a structural change in labour law. What we're enjoying in Canada is a very prolonged period of economic growth. We're into our fifteenth consecutive year of growth across the country, and that's due in part to some smart policy choices we made in the past, whether that was getting into free trade or getting government finances in order.

Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, thank you very much for the opportunity to appear today. I say that as more than the usual pleasantry because I know that before Christmas there was some doubt as to how long this committee was going to give consideration to this bill. I do, therefore, want to thank very sincerely both current and former members of the committee for recognizing that this is a bill that has some broad strategic implications and deserves a thorough examination.

Finance committee  I think support for apprenticeships has been useful. Skilled trades are basically an area in which we're already facing severe labour shortages, and it's only going to get worse. I think tax credits, on the other hand, are maybe not the most important thing on that front because the demand is there.

Finance committee  Well, I don't know. I haven't seen any solid research on why they aren't working. All I know is that given the generosity of the support provided, we should be getting more activity than we are. Whether it's a function of the structure and too many small companies can't benefit from them, whether there are other issues on the treatment of intellectual property, or whether there are regulatory barriers, any number of reasons may be out there, but I haven't seen anybody come up with one good reason.