Finance committee  Some of the recommendations we have around that reflect more of a staging, a ratioed approach, as opposed to a whole single-step movement to a higher age of transfer. For example, for those who are continuing to be engaged in the workforce, as opposed to disincentivizing them and locking them into a transfer or a required transfer, it's potentially looking at a staged transfer over the years that they continue to be engaged in the workforce.

Finance committee  Very simply put, it's an Alberta reality. We cannot find the people we need in order to fill the jobs required for us to continue to be the economic engine in Canada, which is, again, another economic reality at the moment. We have not seen the interprovincial movement of labour we have seen in the past that may have filled some of those jobs we now look to fill with temporary foreign workers.

Finance committee  It certainly does. Without the ability to open our markets to create new customers for our resource products, certainly the ability for us to grow our GDP, to grow employment, and to grow household incomes is constrained and threatened.

Finance committee  Absolutely. Market diversity for this nation, not necessarily just for the province of Alberta, is critical.

Finance committee  Absolutely, and all indications are that their move is towards greater energy independence by 2020. The potential for us to be in a further negative discount position by that point in time is certainly on the horizon.

Finance committee  Absolutely. The contributions made to the development of infrastructure, and extractive infrastructure in particular, whether in Alberta or anywhere across the nation, by the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan are significant. All of those provinces certainly contribute significantly to milling the products necessary to build these things.

Finance committee  This really certainly brings into question the need for projects such as the Northern Gateway. We absolutely need some means of breaking into market diversity and creating that market diversity. In the absence of that, we are continuing to be price takers—

Finance committee  I think that probably the greatest protection that can be afforded is one that's generated by true market movements. If we have the opportunity for market diversity, I think that we create that protection. I think that by ensuring that we have the ability to open our economy, and particularly on the resource sector—not necessarily just bitumen- or natural gas-based resources, but developing a consistent Canadian energy strategy that provides for market diversification of all forms of our energy right across Canada, including oil, gas, potash, wind, and water—we could have an opportunity to diversify our markets.

Finance committee  I think the economic and labour realities bear themselves out. The demand for these skilled labour participants is certainly not felt anywhere more than in the province of Alberta. I can certainly attest to the demand for those spots in post-secondary education. Our technical institutes, such as the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, are routinely taking wait-list applicants to gain entry to these positions.

Finance committee  The final issue we would like to raise with this committee is severance transfers to RRSPs. Until the mid-1990s, provisions allowing for transfer of severance to RRSPs permitted employees faced with difficult career changes to plan for their future. In 1995, however, the Government of Canada changed the provisions related to the transferability of severance payments to an RRSP, citing the maturation of pension plans, the increase of RRSP limits for those not in pensions plans, and the ability to carry forward unused RRSP limits.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and committee members. Thank you for inviting us to present our recommendations for budget 2013. My name is Brad Severin, and I am the chair-elect of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce. Our organization represents 126 chambers of commerce, representing 23,000 businesses.