Thank you all for being here today, especially you, Mr. Ferguson.
I just want to touch quickly on your audit on the temporary foreign worker program. I'm reading through the recommendations here around how the department is rolling out that program as opposed to what you feel the policy is.
In the past I've been very critical of the program from the standpoint of somebody who's accessed the program. You referenced geographical data around unemployment levels and other available workforce data, but from my experience, I sometimes question—I have questioned—the accuracy of that data in terms of the delivery of the program. Just because unemployment trends may signal one thing, it does not necessarily mean that all those people are ready, willing, and able to go to work in any type of job.
I just want to get your thoughts around what you feel the biggest challenges in the program are. Do you feel part of it is a case of there not being enough ears to the ground in terms of what's going on in different jurisdictions? Would the program be better developed in the future to take into account more regional differences and differences between industries?