I'm just hoping we don't have a sort of—I hate to use the term—Maginot line of defence that services can answer all the problems we're seeing with unemployment. I don't know whether Wood Gundy has had an opportunity to talk about this, other than predicting that gasoline will be $1.50 this month, which is of course incorrect.
That's my PSA for the moment, Mr. Chair.
I'm concerned that the two last reports on unemployment showed the last gain we had was really in the government services sector, which was then followed more recently by an actual drop in employment.
We also recognize the statistics relating to how EI is collected. Former Minister Marchi might know this better than most. After several months, the person who can't find work and hasn't been able to make the transition is in fact simply lost in the statistics. So the numbers may be greater out there. We're seeing it in our constituency offices and we know it's real.
I'm just hoping there is in all of the recommendations you've given to us an opportunity to put together a platform, an idea, that would allow us to make your industry successful, as it were, to weather the consequences of high unemployment.