A book that I read in the last couple of years that I found quite profound was The World is Flat by Tom Friedman. To me it's a wake-up call. I'd use the analogy of the convergence that took place with Japan, and the way I see it, with China and India we're on maybe a thirty-, forty-, or fifty-year convergence in absorbing the phenomenon there economically in the world. And for countries that aren't aware of that and aren't becoming competitive, it's literally true that not only will they eat your lunch, but they're going to take away your jobs, and so on.
In the section in his book where he said there were certain things the modern economy should be doing to get in line with this thing, the list of things that we should be dealing with, the negatives, I think he was more focused, from a public policy standpoint, on the United States. But I was just thinking of the list in Canada, and in my mind the list is extremely long on the negative side in this country. I don't really think there's a political appetite in this country to get real on these issues. But I happen to think this guy is onto something, this Tom Friedman, and we've literally got our heads stuck in the sand if we're not willing to take a good hard look at what we're doing internally.
I have a major labour shortage in my riding. People can't get people. This is in Saskatchewan. I have people in other parts of the country raising questions in question period about enhanced EI programs or something, and our employers in Saskatchewan need these people--and we have mobility rights in the country, and so on.
But I'd be interested in comments on some of the things that we have to address internally in this country if we're going to wake up to what I think is a reality in the world, that China is going to be a big factor, not only for the United States but for every country in the world. So is India.