I guess I would agree with that. I grew up in the north, and it's true that most people don't have a high school education. It would be smart and wise, and as I said, with regard to francophone women in particular, a vast majority don't have a high school education. So moneys need to be there for extended education. But I think moneys need to go a little further also, given the fact that we need an industrial strategy in the north. We need to have a plan, and we don't have that plan.
I went through the apprenticeship program, and I had those opportunities given to me 15 years ago. Those opportunities aren't there in the grand scheme, and I think it's because we have a north-versus-south mentality in our province, and we have an “I'm going out west” mentality.
Just last year I talked to a graduating class in Blackville, a very small community, and the question was “what are you doing after school?” The vast majority were going out west to seek employment. My question to them then was, “You're going out west? What do you plan on doing?” Their response was, “I don't know. There are jobs out west. There are no jobs here.” So a lot of our young people are going out there, starting their apprenticeship programs, and working their blocks, but they can't come home until those blocks are completed and they are journeypersons. That's a big issue.
The maritime provinces have an agreement that if you have a second block, you can go to Nova Scotia, and they'll recognize that. At this point, all that's doing is taking our young people and our workers out of New Brunswick once again. It's not solving our problem.