Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our four witnesses, who have given us a lot of information. This is a very informative meeting. I have a slew of questions, but first, I want to say a few words about the committee's work.
We've spent the week visiting the Atlantic provinces. It's been very insightful. We are learning a lot. I think it's very helpful to meet with people in their community or province to gain a better grasp of their situation. It's a bit gruelling, because we spend mornings meeting with people and afternoons on the road or in this case, in the air—we flew here, of course. The reason we are able to do our job properly is the incredible support team we have with us. The days are long for everyone.
I want to take a few moments to thank everyone on the team—our fabulous committee clerk, Mr. Roger, and our seasoned analysts, Mr. Capwell and Mr. Lambert‑Racine, who provide us with documentation, summaries and analyses.
As a francophone, I depend on the interpreters. They do a tremendous job, and I cannot thank them enough. Ms. Forbes‑Smith, who is interpreting my remarks as we speak, Ms. Célestin and Ms. Desnoyers, thank you ever so much.
I want to thank the proceedings and verification officers, who are also great, even though they're all the way over there. Thank you, Mr. Campbell and Ms. Senior. Lastly, I mustn't forget Ms. Fahey, who isn't in the room right now. She's the terrific logistics officer who organizes everything for us. I want to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone on the team. We're getting to know each other better over these weeks, and they are all amazing people.
I see the chair's reaction, so I should add that I speak on behalf of all the committee members.
Now that that's been said, I have quite a few questions for the witnesses.
Mr. Bonnell, I want to ask you about your employees.
Do you hire them for the season or the year? How does EI work for them?
We've heard a lot about the labour shortage. Is that a challenge your company is dealing with?