Mr. Speaker, I want to provide a brief comment about the temporary foreign worker program, which for the most part is an excellent program. However, because of the way the government has allowed that program to explode, at a great cost to many residents of Canada, it is generally felt that the government has gone overboard. We are not allowing residents of Canada to fill those job vacancies, which is critically important.
The temporary foreign worker program can be given a great deal of credit for a lot of success in certain industries from coast to coast to coast. We need to recognize that.
My question is related to the leadership role Ottawa should be playing in the different regions of our country. High school students who are graduating need to be in a better position to fill the many jobs that are, in fact, there. There needs to be more graduation of post-secondary students and the courses to meet labour demands into the future. There needs to be stronger federal leadership in working with the many different provincial training bodies, departments of education and so forth to ensure that our future labour force is better equipped to meet the demands of the economy.
Does the member want to provide comment as to what the federal government's role should be in that regard?