Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here, and welcome.
I had the experience of growing up in northern British Columbia, in a small town called Prince Rupert. I worked at a pulp mill in high school, and the pulp mill is no longer there. It shut down. It was actually owned by a company by the name of Repap industries, which was from Miramichi, New Brunswick. I also had the enjoyment of working in a fish-processing plant for two summers, and the fish-processing plant is no longer there. So I do recognize the transition that's gone on in both the economies in eastern Canada and the economy in northern British Columbia, and also in many small towns across Canada.
The situation faced by New Brunswick and much of eastern Canada in terms of a shrinking labour force is one that our government is well aware of and addressing.
My question is this. Because it's a shrinking labour force, in your support of SMEs specifically and the ability to attract talent back to New Brunswick, can you comment on the successes that you've seen? We know in Canada we have more people over 65 and below 15, and the ability to attract talent to an area is important.