Thank you, Madam Chair.
I, too, senators, want to thank you both for speaking to us today. Your reputation definitely precedes you. So far, we have been talking in rather general terms, and we have not discussed specific client groups. I want to talk about a group of clients that is very important to me, immigrants.
There is talk of immigration. They say that we can bring in immigrants, that there are already many here, that immigration will help us pay our taxes, our pensions and so forth. There is no integration without employment, and employment is at the heart of the matter.
Since I have been in Ottawa—13 years now—we have been talking about the fact that when immigrants come here, many of them, not just professionals, employment groups, as well—whether they are joiners, plumbers or whatever—very rarely manage to find work in their field. That issue was being discussed even before that, when I was a member of the Quebec government. The Quebec government made efforts in the area of foreign credentials equivalence. We took action when we were in power: a minister was appointed to address the issue.
I wonder how you see the work that needs to be done to help these people—I am not just talking about professionals, and I want to make that clear—who are truly underemployed. Many of them do not even have jobs. Keep in mind, on the one hand, the associations, professional or not, which have an active role in this decision and, on the other hand, the provincial governments, which also have a role to play. I am not sure who would like to respond.