Finance committee  No, in terms of this specific issue that I'm talking about with open tendering, certain people we compete with have gerrymandered the system so that we can't actually compete with them. They're not our competition. Generally, Merit Canada doesn't necessarily have competition. Each of our members go out into their local market to build buildings and build schools.

Finance committee  I'll be here next week on that.

Finance committee  Yes. All of my meetings with MPs from the Conservative—

Finance committee  Okay.

Finance committee  Sure. Just to be clear, Merit Canada is not a construction company. We're an association of eight provincial open-shop construction associations. So we represent every province other than Quebec. As you may or may not know, open-shop construction is not allowed in Quebec. It's all union.

Finance committee  Yes, and with certain provinces.

Finance committee  There are numerous examples where the federal government does insist on that. I referenced the Nova Scotia agreement. There are many that involve the Province of Alberta. From our perspective, it's simply including a provision that would not allow union-only contracting, to ensure that most of the industry is able to bid on those projects.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to add Merit Canada's voice to the pre-budget consultations. You will be pleased to know that, unlike many organizations and witnesses you've heard at this committee in the past, I am not here to seek more government spending or more of your money.

Finance committee  Thank you. As I stated before, our industry is facing an acute labour shortage. But as I also stated, using temporary foreign workers and immigration is the most expensive way for construction companies to staff up, so it's always used as a measure of last resort. We support many training measures to help Canadians become skilled.

Finance committee  Sure. We're here to support the repeal of the measure that I spoke about earlier. We believe that the federal government doesn't really have a role in regulating wages in what is a high-paying industry. Whether it's a collective bargaining agreement—which the UFCW will enter into—or free competition between employers and employees directly, we think that's the best way to determine wages.

Finance committee  Sure. I'd be happy to do that. Our industry faces an acute labour shortage, especially in Alberta, but it will soon be spreading to other places in the country. We fully support changes to the temporary foreign worker program that Minister Kenney announced. We also support changes to the immigration system.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Yes. The Construction Sector Council of Canada has put out a report saying that roughly 300,000 skilled tradespeople in addition to what we already have will be needed by the end of the decade.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Yes. We haven't commented specifically on the EI changes. I haven't had a chance to look at the details on them, but anything that encourages people to fill a job that is available is something we would support, because we have such an acute labour shortage in construction. I can't speak for the other industries that are here.