Thank you.
When I hear over and over again the amount of money that's going into the child care allowance under the pretext of giving parents choice, I have to wonder if the Conservatives have met the sorcerer's apprentice. Anyone who would say that $100 child allowance would allow a parent to make a choice, the choice between staying at home and going to work, in Victoria, my riding, the most expensive city in Canada...I don't know. I'd like to find out what kind of medication they're taking, because I wouldn't mind some of it.
Just to put it on the record, an analysis of the Quebec child care system indicates that 40ยข out of every dollar invested in its child care services is returned to the provincial economy the following year, primarily in increased taxes arising from the high labour force participation. So the linkage between employability and early learning in child care opportunities is so clear.
I would like to speak to a few of the other guests we have today. From the perspective of your association, you expressed the need for workers and you indicated that there had been some serious losses because of the lack of workers. I believe Mr. Garcia-Orgales mentioned that if there is a continual need, why not go through the regular process, so that the immigrants who do come will have some rights as Canadians and will have some protection under the law, which doesn't seem to be the case with foreign workers at the moment?