Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I work for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. One area I want to touch on is labour mobility. In this province we have a resource-based type of economy. We have several ongoing projects in gas and oil, hydro development, and that sort of stuff. Our concern, when we buy into the global economy and all these sorts of things, is the protection of Canadian workers. Canadians come first. That's our priority.
I've negotiated agreements for the fixed-link transmission to Nova Scotia, the Muskrat Falls hydro dam and the transmission lines from there, and of course all the equipment that's going into that project. We're in partnership with the energy company, Nalcor, in developing that project. Our concern with the TPP is whether we can build these partnerships internally with our own corporations and protect the rights of Canadians to these jobs first.
There's absolutely no doubt that we need expertise. If a piece of equipment was made in a certain part of the world, we have provisions, in collective agreements that we bargained, that enable us to bring those people in so that we can have a transfer of technology from wherever it was manufactured to the people who can maintain it into the future. That's a concern of ours when we talk about that.
There's also the issue of labour mobility and being able to go across Canada. If there's a shortage of power line technician workers in Newfoundland, we would like to be able to go to all the other provinces and take those workers if they're available. If they're not available, then we can go to the United States or we can bring them in from foreign countries. We're not opposed to that at all as an organization. As a matter of fact, we have language that covers all of that in the project agreements we've signed off on in the building of these hydro projects.
Equipment for this project comes from all parts of the world. It is made in China, made in India, made in Turkey. It comes from everywhere. Of course, with that equipment to be installed, there are going to be manufacturers' representatives. We work with those folks to make sure there is that transfer of technology, that Canadian jobs are protected, and that we can sustain a future for the people who make their living from the construction industry.
When I talk about mobility, this is exactly what we want; we want Canadians first. If we have aboriginal groups within our communities that are close to these construction projects, we look at them and give them the first choice to get that type of work if they have the skills and qualifications.