Canada is the only G7 country without an offshore wind industry, so we are behind the eight ball. We know that coming off the north shore, a number of trained workers, many who came off the oil patch, will be picked up very quickly to come and do the work, because they'll come in on contract and move quickly. Unless we have labour benefit agreements, we lose.
In comparison to what Mr. Patzer said, it's common in mining. I've dealt with many cases where we've tried to get expertise from, say, Finland if we're adding new equipment, specific equipment that brings in a specific set of skills. You bring those people in on short-term work agreements because that's their specialty, but the work itself is done by trained Canadian workers.
To anybody who thinks the operating engineers in Canada aren't trained and ready to take on any job in offshore wind, I don't believe that. To anyone who thinks IBEW workers are not ready to take on any job in offshore wind, I don't believe that. To anybody who thinks the longshore workers out of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, who work on so many of the rigs and are brought back and forth, aren't able to do this work, I don't buy that. However, you need the labour benefit agreements because companies will easily take contract workers from wherever. If they're coming out of Fife and saying they'll send in a crew who will fly in and fly out, those jobs are going to Scotland. They're not going to Canada. I think it would be a real tragedy if we passed on this.
I'd be more than willing stand this down so we can talk to Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, because it's about jobs. It's about their jobs. If the Conservatives want to force this, then we'll vote, but it is important to say labour benefit agreements.... Biden put those in because they knew that they could easilycould bring in workers from Korea. They could be bringing in workers from anywhere. That's how this is done.
It doesn't mean that all the labour benefit agreements are going to be unionized. It doesn't mean they're all going to be locked in. However, you can sign in a contract that we have to have some commitments to workers in Canada. That's the fundamental principle. Certainly, any day of the week, I trust the skills we've seen in trained Canadian workers. They are able to do any job.