Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her speech. It caught my attention and raised some questions for me.
I received a letter from Joyce Reynolds of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. It indicates that the 15 to 24 age group has reached a demographic peak, which is contributing to the labour shortage. She says that the restaurant and food service sectors will need 1,225,200 employees between now and 2015 and that 35,000 of these positions will not be filled.
The parliamentary secretary has said that the Conservatives are going to encourage the hiring of young people to fill those positions, yet this age group has clearly already reached its demographic peak. Where will they get the workers to fill these positions?