International Trade committee  Perhaps I'll take a crack at that, Mr. Chairman. There was a good deal of dialogue between us and government during the process. Could there have been more? Yes, there certainly could have been. If you go back to the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1988, where we had SAGIT, the sectoral advisory committees, that's something I would like to see us bring back to have much more intensive discussions between business and government.

International Trade committee  No, not left out, but I believe it could be improved upon.

International Trade committee  Do you want me to take a shot at that, or Corinne do you want to?

International Trade committee  I think we should be leading. It's abundantly clear that in the United States this is becoming enmeshed in election-year politics. That's unfortunate, because it creates issues where otherwise there would not be key issues. My understanding is that Japan intends to go ahead and ratify.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for inviting me to speak to the committee today about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. The Asia-Pacific region is an increasingly important market for Canadian businesses. Trade is only one of the levers that we have to boost economic growth, but unfortunately this is an area where Canada has not been performing particularly well of late.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Human Resources committee  I'd just like to add a comment, Mr. Chairman. I understand the concerns. Having represented a rural constituency in Parliament, I understand the concerns of ensuring both that you deal with individuals fairly and that you're responsive to needs of industries and communities. The fundamental question here, though, is whether this an insurance program or not.

Human Resources committee  Yes. I spoke to the Alberta Chambers of Commerce on Thursday. I had a chance to meet with representatives from all across the province. You're facing a chronic, permanent, growing shortage of labour. It's going to require significant in-migration. It's going to require improvement in terms of skills.

Human Resources committee  I'd like to make a comment.

Human Resources committee  Such a program, essentially for the reasons that were mentioned.... Even if we were to exempt SMEs, it would be less unfair, less burdensome. But large, progressive employers today often spend well in excess of the 1% in terms of employee training. The smartest employers invest.

Human Resources committee  To keep things as tight as possible, I will focus my comments on the issue of information. I fully agree that we've done a terrible job in terms of projecting what the labour force needs are going to be in the future, but in my view that's not an argument for downing tools. It's an argument for us to redouble our efforts and to try to project more.

Human Resources committee  I have had many years of political training. I was told never to answer a hypothetical question, but having done that and having forgotten that lesson, I'll be Maoist and say that we should allow a thousand flowers to bloom. If it's a matter of experimenting and seeing whether an experimental program would work, why wouldn't we experiment?

Human Resources committee  Ms. Charlton, thank you very much for the question. We see the temporary workers program and permanent immigration as two distinct but very important tools to try to address the skills needs in Canada. Obviously there are many instances when somebody may be needed for a specified period of time and where those skills are needed.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'm very pleased to be here today. Your committee is tackling one of the single most pressing issues for members of the Canadian chamber and for businesses across the country, which is the skills and labour shortages that are affecting Canada's competitiveness.

Industry committee  Ian can probably talk with regard to the Industry Canada program. He's there where the rubber meets the road and it's his members who are the SMEs looking for staff. What I can say to you, though, is that Canada has a skills problem that is well on its way to becoming a skills crisis.