Thank you for your questions.
First of all, you're right. I think it was 15 or 20 years ago that trades were taken out of the high schools. IT was brought in during the IT bubble, and now that has dissipated. The $500 million we're asking for is for infrastructure, but a big part of it is capital equipment as well. I think it's important to see that as an element of it.
With ongoing funding, we can use and have used industry as training sites to offset some infrastructure costs. Colleges are trying to find some creative ways to deal with the infrastructure costs. The big issue is capital equipment, because for graduates to go out there and be gainfully employed, they do need to be working on the most recent technologies.
On the question about how colleges can't be all things to all people, I think it's a really, really good point. That's why, through our regional consortium, we help each other out. With health training programs, there is a regional group that takes a look at adding or not adding courses and also at how we keep a balance so that we are providing enough graduates to respond to the labour force demands.
Also, at our college, and I'm sure at others as well, every year we review the numbers of students who apply and the numbers of students who get employed. Based on that, we either increase or decrease our enrolment numbers. It's another way of making sure we're being responsive.
What is happening in Atlantic Canada through the energy sector and also in some of the IT sectors--health IT programs are a growth industry here, as is video game design--is that we're being asked to put together training to support the local industry, which is great. The issue is, though, what do you take out of the basket?
The problem is that as soon as we go to take out a program, I can tell you that we hear from that industry, which asks us why we're cutting it back. So what we try to do is ratchet down the numbers, still support it, and say that we don't need to be graduating 30 students a year if our employment records show that only 35.... Well, I shouldn't say that, because I don't think we have any programs under 60% uptake, but if the numbers are down, then we decrease the programs.
Just like a business, we're constantly taking a look at supply and demand and what the numbers need to be, but there's a greater expectation all the time for training. As you look at the global economy, I think you can see that many countries realize that the key to success is to invest in training and have a well-educated, skilled workforce.