Good morning, Minister.
You and I have spoken about this. I come from a skilled trades family. My dad and my brother are members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, and my childhood was marked by travelling Ontario—northern Ontario—to visit my dad. He passed away in 2010 from pancreatic cancer, but this is a moment in time I wish he could have seen. I wish he could see our government's commitment and passion behind supporting and developing Canada's skilled trades sector.
I was recently at Fleming College, which has the Kawartha Trades and Technology Centre, and they are over the moon about what we are doing. I visited with a lot of students, especially in the welding sector, and they don't even have enough spots to host the number of students who would like to go into welding specifically.
My dad was a self-taught welder and a self-taught heavy-equipment mechanic, but he was highly sought after. He spent a lot of time in Fort McMurray, in the oil sands, as did my brother. When we talk about this, one thing is sometimes missing. Yes, there are really well-paying jobs, highly skilled jobs, but it's about the pride that comes with being a skilled tradesperson. Now that my dad is gone, when I travel the country, there is a physical manifestation of my dad across the country because of the projects he was part of.
As we talk about this, I feel that our government has really encompassed how important these jobs are. We have approached this in a really thoughtful way so we can make sure that people go from start to finish through the Red Seal trades.
If there's still some time left, could you elaborate on some of the supports for this and how we're going to see, from start to finish, people making it through a Red Seal certification?