Thank you, Chair.
You've articulated a number of challenges, as all members have and, frankly, given us a lot to think about as we go from here.
On the first point, I don't think any program or network of programs can completely insulate the labour market from the ups and downs and the vagaries of economic activity, but the goal is to provide for people when those things happen; that's EI part I.
What we want to do is to use the labour market agreements, that's the Canada job fund and the LMDAs now, to shorten the pipeline, if you like, between that kind of business decision, the training decision, and the impact on workers.
John described the reach-back, the look-back provisions. We think that that is a sensitive element of EI part II that allows for some of that insulation. Add to that the Canada job grant ability of employers to provide the prospect of a real job at the end of training, but it's in the context of avoiding layoff, maybe retooling in the direction that the business needs to go or where there is more economic opportunity.
Given that we've got the agreements in principle and leading to the formal agreements with the provinces on the Canada Job Fund, we're optimistic that that will now become part of the suite of programs that the employment centres that Frank talked about, the contact centres, will make available to employers.
We're also open to the employers coming together in areas where there might be concern about someone else getting the benefit of that training, of employers coming together in consortia and taking advantage of the Canada job grant, or presumably, one could be doing this through the LMDAs as well, so that a broader pool of workers is trained up for areas that a particular sector or region of the country might be going to in the future.
So I think what we want is a system that is more adept, more adjustable to the rapid changes in the economy, and we think that greater involvement in the decision-making by employers and labour has a role to play in this as well because they've got a role in the training institutions, the training process. If we can shorten those decision periods and make the programs offered through the LMDAs more sensitive to those realities, we think that the kind of situation that you described.... Nothing will be perfect, but we'll have a training system that is more sensitive to those ups and downs.