Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the good work you do and for the brief you've provided to us.
I represent a half-urban and half-rural riding in British Columbia, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country. As you mentioned in your brief, Canada has strong ties with other countries. In British Columbia, we definitely have strong ties and a good relationship with people from China, Korea, India, and Japan.
At the same time, we have an economy in British Columbia that is booming in all sectors, in construction, biotech, and high-tech. As you outlined in your brief, we have a major skill shortage in B.C. When you combine that with the aging population in Canada and the low birth rate, we've got to do something to create a new population policy.
The question I have is quite straightforward. In previous governments, we had set a target of 225,000 to 250,000 new Canadians a year. Last year Canada let in 262,000, which I think is a good start, but it's far from where it needs to be.
I was recently in Vancouver with Mr. Ignatieff, who was talking about a new number of 350,000 new Canadians, which I concur with. I think the present minority Conservative government is looking to pull those numbers back down from 260,000 to 225,000, which is only going to cause major disturbances in the economies of British Columbia.
My question to you is this. What types of immigration targets and population policies would you recommend for Canada?