I'll just make a few comments, because we've heard a lot of what you've had to say.
From a point of encouragement, when we met last fall, we had an opportunity to speak to the minister, indicating to me a process of a certain amount of collaboration and partnership between the business community, the federal government, and the provincial government. I know we had the opportunity to hear of new changes from the province and from business, and I think that's a good thing in the start of this whole process. I certainly would encourage that. Being here today in Saskatchewan and hearing from you, many of our committee, I think, find things happening in Saskatchewan that need some immediate attention, and we need to start working toward that end. I am encouraged by what I see.
I know the LMOs have been a big topic. That's under human resources, not our committee, but it's important because it ties in eventually to immigration. The provincial minister and I have talked about that. We have talked at the federal level and made representation to add temporary foreign worker units in Alberta and British Columbia. Some offices opened up in the east in Ontario to deal with expediting those and to deal with occupations under pressure.
I certainly hear what you're saying, and I will take that back. I will say that Saskatchewan's economy is really at a critical mass, and we need to see if we can include Saskatchewan in that. I know the provincial representative this morning said that might be a long way away, but I think we need to keep working on it, because it's a cumulative effort.
Another thing is that the settlement immigration funding, as important as it is, is also tied into numbers that are coming in. I am fully convinced that the provincial nominee program is the vehicle through which a lot of this can happen. I think we've demonstrated that this morning, and we've talked about it. As Saskatchewan increases its numbers, it will also increase the funding that comes to it; we've seen a $1.5 billion increase in funding from one year to the next--which is a lot--but there is a long way to go and to grow. I think we need to keep that in mind.
In terms of illegal undocumented workers, my sense is that our system has not allowed people to come in through the legitimate way, so they try to come in some other way or in an underground way altogether. It seems that if we want to fix the system, we need to deal with them in some fashion. More importantly, why are they there?
I hear it from all of you. We don't have a nice simple stream, so we need to find a way to match newcomers with the demands of the economy. I think a lot of people have not yet caught on to the fact--whether they're in administration, bureaucracy, or wherever--that the economy is growing exponentially and that there is no internal way to meet those needs. The way to meet them is through external means, but we need to have a system that matches better. I am hopeful that the legislation you spoke of will play a part in that, but I realize it's a process.
Having summarized what I've heard here today, I would ask each of you, if you had one comment or direction to the committee, to say what that might be. Give us a quick one-two, and my time will be up.