Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Mr. Dheer, you made some very valid points, and they are well taken. We also thank you for giving credit to the government of 16 or 17 years ago for the amnesty. That was a Conservative government.
You also made a good point about bringing people in quickly and the economy of any province. It is not only Alberta, Quebec, or any other province. British Columbia's economy is going pretty strong, along with Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and even in the Newfoundland economy—offshore oil is there—and I foresee in the long term we will be looking at almost 100% net labour market requirement based on immigration. We do need to expedite those things.
Thank you for your comments.
I also want to show you that the minister does not—and I categorically tell you that—have the arbitrary power to overrule the visa officer's decision, so you can sleep easy and let people know that is the case. Thank you, sir.
On the other thing, I would like to go to Mr. Busby.
I want to talk a little more about labour flexibility. Some comments were made that people do not want to move from Newfoundland or Quebec, and you answered “Well....”. But at the same time we have to realize that people have come to this country from four corners of the world. They are going to continue to come from the four corners of the world. Why are people coming here? We are a compassionate country. We have the best real estate in the world, we have a good job market requirement, and we have great social programs built over the years.
If they can come from India, China, Pakistan, or wherever, I don't think they will have a whole lot of problem moving from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, or anywhere else. That's if they wish to move; the decision on whether they wish to move or not should rest with the people, not with politicians like me or anybody else in this room.
How would you see the labour market flexibility, and how can we bring it about?