I would almost suggest that you'd need a whole committee meeting to study just that question.
Canada's competitiveness is the story. We need tax competitiveness with the United States and with other jurisdictions around the world. We need credential recognition across the country. If you're trained in one trade or credential here in Ontario, you may not be eligible to move to another jurisdiction if you need to, for whatever business purpose.
To come back to the mandate of this committee, our immigration policies are undermining business success. We have entrepreneurs. We have business leaders who run meat-packing facilities in southwestern Ontario, but they can't find labour. We have universities that are purging programs and entire divisions as a result of a significantly reduced international student program.
On the overall ability to field labour for business, if there's a Canadian or a permanent resident who's interested and qualified, they should have access to a job opportunity in Canada, first and foremost, of course. If those conditions don't exist, then the Canadian business owner should be able to find the labour they need.
We heard of Red Lake's emergency room being closed recently because they couldn't find staff. There are labour shortages across the construction trades, across a number of skilled fields. We need to address those so that we can bring that labour force to Canada and our businesses can grow.
