We think it is very important to develop a vision of economic development that is not strictly built on the extraction of raw materials, but also on processing.
What distinguishes Canada is a qualified workforce. We have many ways to provide on-the-job training to help the workforce continue to develop and process materials. That will help ensure even more value added and develop trade involving manufactured products. That will be more beneficial than just sending our raw materials elsewhere for processing, just to have them come back and then sent abroad.
We expect our governments to establish policies in those areas. We have to develop a vision of economic development based on processing and the manufacturing industry, and promote our leading sectors, which are numerous. We also have to make sure that our economic agreements will not lead to job losses.
A recent U.S. study notes that, with agreements such as the one on the table, Canada could end up with an employment shortage of up to 60,000 jobs. We cannot afford to lose them, as they are quality jobs.