Well, I thank the member for her explanation.
I want to say first of all that in my region of the country this is a very valuable tool, and I'm quite familiar with it.
I may intervene on some of the other amendments. At this point I want to talk very briefly about how a wage is determined. I can assure the member that somebody working in the farm sector, for instance, is not just paid that wage. There's transportation for people, in our case from the Caribbean. It also includes health care costs and housing costs. These are all taken into consideration. Those wage guidelines are published. They're published first, and when the farmers have no success, they're allowed to use foreign workers.
I know that—before anybody intervenes on the foreign worker and the farm labourer—there are differences, but there are also areas in which they're similar.
The other thing I'd point out is that this is a very necessary part of our employment. We know we have severe labour shortages. I made reference to my riding, and I know there are ridings in NDP-held territories. As a matter of fact, it has become evident that NDP members have received requests to help get foreign workers too. So it's a reality in the current labour market. I know we have the checks and balances in place to ensure that the wages offered are also offered to Canadians and that those wages are determined to be fair.