Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, witnesses, for being here.
Being from Calgary, Alberta, I can share all kinds of good stories about not only Suncor, but a lot of other companies that create jobs and that had such good programs to facilitate all of the workers from across Canada, or foreign workers, so that they would feel at home.
I have a very limited time and I want to focus on my question to the Conference Board of Canada. I was reading in your Centre for the North initiative that “a strong North is essential to a strong Canada”. I agree. We all know this, and we agree that under the leadership of Prime Minister Harper the north has been made a priority by this government.
Then I was reading the report of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which is called “On the Front Lines of Canada’s Northern Strategy”. It reads:
In Ottawa, parties across the political spectrum have made northern issues a priority, and the current federal government has put more emphasis on the North than any other in recent memory.
Then I was reading the Canadian Chamber of Commerce comment, where they say that:
Despite many sources of government support and significant federal spending directed at rural/remote areas of Canada, consistent progress in building strong, self-sustaining remote communities is not evident.
My question is, considering all the observations made by FCM and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in your opinion, what is the reason that we are not achieving the intended results, and what should we do considering the fiscal restraint period we are going through?
I would like to receive some non-monetary input here.