Mr. Speaker, last week I attended the annual presentation of APEGA, which is the organization in Alberta that represents engineers, geologists, and geophysicists.
What I learned about the unemployment situation in this category was even more dire than I had realized. In Calgary, 20% of engineers today are unemployed, 30% of geophysicists are not working, and as many as 50% of geologists do not have jobs.
What did the federal budget do to help these highly trained professionals who work in the energy sector? The budget slashed the drilling incentive program, which encourages companies to hire these professionals and go out and drill new wells.
Combined with the carbon tax and the NDP policies in Alberta, we will have continued high unemployment. Remember that Alberta was the driver of the Canadian economy for the past decade. It is obvious the Liberals want to continue to drive the Alberta economy into the toilet, and the four Liberal members of the Liberal Party—