How serious it is. I noticed as well that the importance you put on indexing funding so that it doesn't lose value and also the importance you gave to having multi-year funding of plans so that there is reliability going forward and businesses and the community know what to expect in terms of the delivery of transit.
I certainly know it's a massive concern for businesses I speak to and for people in the community. I agree with you that it ought to be a priority right across this country. It's a key issue for our economy, the environment, and the community.
I think the Board of Trade has continued to make this a key issue and I really support you on that as we're trying to bring the government along. They voted against a measure that we put forward for a transit strategy, but hopefully they'll have another creative solution come forward so that we can address this important issue. I thank you for raising it.
I want to ask Mr. Alho about two things. First, are we doing enough basic research in our universities, and is that something we need to address? Are we doing well in that?
Second, while many of the training programs are run by the provinces, is there anything the federal government should be doing in terms of training to fit the skills to the jobs that are available?