Mr. Chair, tonight I will give some introductory background and then go over some current and future difficulties. As well, I will have a series of short questions for which I hope to get short answers.
I consider myself to be the luckiest member of Parliament because I am from not only the most beautiful area of the world but an area that in the near future will be in need of tens of thousands of additional workers. Our population will double in the next 15 years.
I come from northeastern Alberta, the constituency of Fort McMurray—Athabasca. The area will need 100,000 more people to be employed directly or indirectly by the oil sands in the near future. Many of these workers make $80,000 per year. We need many different trades people, doctors, lawyers and many different types of people. Indeed, there will be some 240,000 jobs by 2008, directly or indirectly, attributed to the oil sands.
What I would like to find out from the minister is what the plan is to get more overseas employees directly into the oil sands and those areas and get them to stay. I understand we will not have enough workers domestically to supply those needs.