Thank you. That's a great question.
Look at Canada within the G7. We are a big magnet for talent. I think folks in British Columbia know that. We've attracted record levels of talent, and we have provisions in the budget to do this—$1.7 billion. We want to be a magnet for the best and brightest in our shops, on our factory floors and in our research institutes, colleges and universities. Canada is one of the few G7 countries that has very strong industries, from the auto sector to.... We build cars, planes and ships. I'm reminded of the shipyard in British Columbia. We have critical minerals, and many would say that these are akin to oil in the 21st century. We're one of the few countries—this includes British Columbia—that has a number of critical minerals, as well as the tech to refine them. We have an abundance of energy. A lot of people would say that energy is the proxy to growth, in many respects. Again, we're the only G7 country with free trade agreements with all the other G7 nations in the world.
That's why I'm confident. That's why I said that I believe in Canada. When you compare Canada with many other countries in the world, we have a very strong base. Obviously, there are some headwinds, as I mentioned before, but we have the fiscal capacity. We've made generational investments in housing, infrastructure, sovereignty, production and competitiveness. That's exactly what people see in Canada, plus stability, predictability and rule of law. People want to invest in a jurisdiction that provides these. That's why I say that, from a British Columbia perspective, this is a budget that speaks to people. I was at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and can say that it spoke to people. People understand that this is something.
You talked about the productivity superdeduction. That's something we've been talking about in this country since I could read. People have been talking and writing about it. We're addressing that. Even the former parliamentary budget officer said that Canada received good marks when it came to its vision of fiscal sustainability and transparency.
That's why this committee has a big role. It's great that you're looking at what we've done with respect to Stellantis. The world needs more of Canada. Certainly, the role of this committee is to ask how we can strengthen our industry, how we can strengthen what we do for workers and how we can position Canada for success in the 21st century. That's why I think the world is looking at us. You've seen the number of funds wanting to invest. You just saw, yesterday, an announcement by Microsoft, which I know has a big presence in British Columbia.
We're going to continue to do the hard work of building the strongest economy in the G7. In this new world, Canada has a lot of fundamentals to succeed in the economy of the 21st century.
