I'll go first, Mr. Chair.
Anything that can be done to encourage people into a trade is welcome. Cutting something could have the opposite effect.
That said, it's not a simple equation. If we go back in time to the 1950s, we had a large number of people come from Europe post World War II. My in-laws were part of that. They had a trade, although not construction-related.
Society valued trades in the bigger picture. I question whether that value is there today in society, and that's a bigger problem. When I suggested encouraging your children, your grandchildren and your friends to go into construction—I said that to the Minister of Immigration in a meeting in October of last year—I meant it. The old expression is, “Charity begins at home.” That's a small way to encourage your own family to at least consider it.
As I mentioned earlier, there are levers that the federal government has to encourage people to look at a trade in construction, the tax system being one of them, and then encouraging provinces and municipalities to get rid of some of the regulations that Daniel talked about a little earlier.
Yes, I think cutting any kind of incentive could diminish the ability of people to pursue a trade, but it's really important that everybody really value their role in society. It's changing in certain pockets, but it's not changing enough.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.