I've got three questions, and I'll try to be very brief.
Literacy is obviously a question of huge importance for the economy. We hear statistics about high school dropout rates, and the numbers are staggering in terms of the problem in the economy. Clearly, that's going to be a problem for all of us in business and the economy if you can't get the right kind of basic skill sets. I can't say that I have ever heard a member tell me that they didn't want me spending time on literacy. I get feedback, believe me, daily from members regarding how they want me to spend my time. There's no shortage of that input.
In terms of education, if I can use the broader term, we at the chamber have chosen to focus our energies on the post-secondary level. That's not to say that K to 12 and what we're doing or not doing in the educational system aren't important, but we have focused very much on the post-secondary side. There are a number of reasons for that, which I won't get into at the moment.
With regard to immigration, I manage our policy process at the chamber. We have our annual meeting every year in September; this year we're going to be in Saskatoon. I already have five different submissions from various local chambers across the country on immigration issues they want on the agenda of what we will be debating in Saskatoon. The interest level from my membership on the issue is certainly high. That's why I spend a fair amount of time on the issue. I think Mr. Coderre might be aware that the chamber, as a whole, has been very active on the immigration file for many years now. Certainly through the 2002 reform process, it played a major role.
On seasonal industries, you're darned right that these are our members as well. As opposed to what I'm telling them, some of the feedback I get from them is that they can't find workers. They can't find the people they need to get the job done. Part of the reason for that, I would submit, is that the incentive for them to go and do seasonal work isn't there. We hear frustrations from people who are in the fruit business and in others— Rob, I don't know if you've got other examples—and they are saying we've got to do something.
Those are very quick comments, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate they may have been a little faster than they should have been.