Mr. Chair, even though my English is not bad, I will speak in French.
I thank our witnesses for their very useful testimony.
You may recall that in 2007, when you were driving along a highway in Quebec or elsewhere, there were signs that said quite plainly that Saint-Hyacinthe needed 24 plumbers, or 24 electricians, immediately. This was just before the crisis.
I know, for having read certain studies, that tens of billions of dollars in economic activity were lost because we were not ready in 2007. To my knowledge, according to the studies that were done, even though a few years have now passed, we are not in a much better position.
Like everyone else, I want to see economic recovery. When we see a continental economic recovery, and perhaps a global one, I think that we will be facing the same problem. Tens of billions of potential projects will not be launched because we will not have the necessary human resources. In my opinion, after less than a year of economic recovery, we would be facing the same problem.
We are talking about tens of billions of dollars. This time, we need to be ready so as not to miss these opportunities. However, both extremely qualified people like yourselves, and other expert witnesses at the previous hearing, have quoted some very depressing figures. In Ontario alone, we are going to be short 45,000 electricians within five years. In Whitehorse, we would need 15,000 people over a two-year period if ever the mines were to start producing a bit more. These are worrying and dismaying figures.
As opposed to Mr. Mayes, I feel that collectively we can make the decision to invest and to be ready the next time. Governments should not be tossing the problem around like a hot potato.
The following English expression comes to mind:
There comes a point when we have to put a price on stuff.
We hear it said, for instance, that SMEs are not participating very much, if at all, in the apprenticeship programs. We also hear it said that young people, the next generation, have very little interest in the skilled trades. So if you can think of solutions, even if they come at a collective cost, do let us know.
For instance, should the 1% the Quebec government provides to support continuing education not be provided at the national level? Yes, there would be a cost. However, is that cost not minimal compared to the advantages economic recovery will provide? When it finally comes, this time, we could create billions of dollars in economic activity, at the rate the economy would allow us to do so.
We know that apprenticeship programs are not well supported by SMEs. We know that a lot of apprentices drop out after the first year. Even if there is a cost involved, what must we do to solve this?