Thank you, Chair, and good day to my colleagues.
Thank you to the witnesses. It's very interesting testimony.
Mr. Strickland and Mr. Ellerker, I'll just follow along MP Liepert's line of questioning.
I would put forth that the industry clearly was experiencing labour shortages prior to the pandemic. I recognize, as it has been said, that a significant amount of labour force is set to retire and we all know that workers from traditional sources won't be enough to fill the gap.
My first question is for you, Mr. Strickland.
Do you feel there is still a stigma attached to people going into the trades?
I ask you that question because in a previous HUMA in the last Parliament, we talked to some different tradespeople. In fact, in an example from Europe, there was actually an recruiting advertisement. It had two high-end executive condos and in the driveway were two beautiful trucks. Out of one door walked a doctor and out of the other door walked a plumber. That ad was designed to try to break that stigma. There are great jobs in the trades. We all know that.
I want you to touch on what we need to do as a federal government to help you recruit and train your employees.