One of the things we've had success with on major projects is the builder or the owner of the asset saying to contractors that, in order to build on a particular site or in order to participate in building the site, they must hire and (a) have a training plan within their RFP documents, and (b) they commit to train when they're working on the project. Shell Canada, for instance, has a number of projects in Alberta which have been successful in attracting first nations workers and women in the skilled trades because Shell requires it of their contractors. They say that in order to do business with them, contractors must do (a), (b), (c), and (d).
If we're going to spend $60 billion on infrastructure to rebuild this country, it might not be a bad thing to take a look at requiring these same sorts of things on federal infrastructure projects, or even shared-funded projects among the feds, the provinces, and municipal governments. Why wouldn't we use these projects to increase participation in apprenticeships and encourage companies to train young people?
At the end of the day, everything we do all day every day is brought to you by the people in the building trades. It's sort of the invisible workforce out there. If you like driving to work, or you like flying on an airplane, or you like taking a train, or you like the heating systems in this building, they're brought to you by people that have these skills and training.
Skilled trades, to me, are the entranceway to entrepreneurship. Being an apprentice welder today means running your own business in 10 years. These are the kinds of things we need to promote.