Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome to the committee, gentlemen.
I have a background...most of my life has been in the mining sector, and I was a member of the Union of Operating Engineers at one time many years ago.
That's what puzzles me about a statement made about the fact that there are five people waiting for one job in this country and that the need for labour is exaggerated. I don't agree with that statement.
The Mining Association of Canada reported that there's going to be $500 billion spent in the next 10 years and their sector alone will need 125,000 people. Even for the civil service of Canada, there are estimates, for the same period of time, of 125,000 people. That is not the spinoff of those jobs either. That would probably double those figures.
The issue, I feel, is that there are the opportunities out there, and that people are not trained in the right fields for this economy.
Mr. Georgetti, you mentioned that we need more counsellors. I have to say that counsellors and educators, and even unions, even government, have failed us because they haven't had a vision for what is coming in the future and here we are scrambling.
I would like to say that we could give some credit to our government and this committee for the fact that we're trying to address this issue now and look at solutions. I think Mr. Boulerice's question about who is to take and champion this cause is a good question. Government can't do everything. In fact, we don't do everything very well. We need partnerships. We've seen some great partnerships with the aboriginal people. We've found that in the mining sector in Saskatchewan and the mining sector in the Northwest Territories, 40%, 50% of their employees are aboriginals who have been trained through programs that this government has forwarded.
There are women in the labour force.... Some of my colleagues went to the oil sands where huge 400-tonne trucks are being driven by women. They're better drivers than the men just because they take care of the equipment better.