Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. It's great to see everyone this afternoon. I apologize for the late start. I had technical difficulties, as is the way as we deal with some of these issues through the pandemic. I applaud each and every one of you for having these meetings and forming this committee.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  I wouldn't hazard a comment on the state of mind of the Governor of Michigan. You're right in terms of adding up all the scenarios and the potential environmental consequences of closing Line 5. Obviously, it's a political dynamic at play in Michigan. We will have to wait and see how that political dynamic plays itself out within the courts.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Sure. Is that better?

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Great. No, I don't think that's part of the thinking. I think what's happening in Michigan is made in Michigan. On your earlier question to Mr. Mancinelli with respect to what we're doing on the States side, the North America’s Building Trades Unions and Canada's Building Trades Unions have formed a bilateral committee.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  One of the advantages of being in a union is that you have health and welfare benefit plans on both sides of the border. The problem would be that, in the U.S., if you're not working, you're not going to be able to contribute to that health and welfare plan, so you could run out of benefits.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  I'm not 100% sure of the answer to that question, Mr. Masse. I'd say that this would be a question better positioned to Enbridge. I can say—based on a previous question as well, looking for third party studies of the existing pipeline—that there are third party pipeline studies that have been done in the U.S.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  That's a great question, absolutely. I'll maybe add something. I think there's an opportunity to green all of our pipelines. Keystone had a proposal to power it with renewables, which would have created 1,600 megawatts of renewable energy. I think there's an opportunity to talk to Enbridge, TC Energy, Cenovus and other large Canadian energy players that are moving oil and petroleum by-products across the country about doing what they can to protect the environment and the Great Lakes and also to power the pipelines using renewable technologies.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Thank you.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's a pleasure to be here this afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee on reforms to the employment insurance system that reflect the needs of Canadian workers. Sean Strickland is my name. I'm the executive director of Canada's Building Trades Unions.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Long. I really appreciate it. Thanks for remarking on the relationship with Matt from IBEW and Steve from the operating engineers. I'm sure they're watching. I'm sure Arlene, whom I've known for a number of years, is not watching. She's busy working on issues in the New Brunswick legislature.

Human Resources committee  I know Arlene's been active on the small modular reactor file as well. That's something we're really encouraged about. It is related to my remarks in terms of transitioning workers from the traditional oil and gas energy sector into the new energy projects of the future. Projects like small modular reactors, hydrogen and carbon sequestering are going to take large capital investments.

Human Resources committee  Apprentices have to go through an in-school portion for training. Depending on your trade, it dictates how much in-school training you have. In various jurisdictions in Canada we have what are called compulsory trades. Examples are tower crane operators, mobile crane operators, electricians, plumbers, steamfitters and sheet metal, just to name a few.

Human Resources committee  This is a huge issue, and you heard the stats that I reported from the Ontario Construction Secretariat just for Ontario alone: $1 billion to $3 billion a year. What happens is this: I'm a contractor. I have to hire 10 people to perform my work. Rather than bringing them onto my payroll, I describe them as independent operators.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question. It's a very important issue for the construction industry. The only really substantive data provincially on this is from Ontario. As I indicated earlier, it's $1 billion to $3 billion a year, but you can take that on a percentage basis and roll it right across the country.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question. I do remember the accident that you're referring too. Unfortunately, I'm sure that each member would be able to point to an example of a similar accident in their own riding. I think it's important to recognize that generally construction is a lot safer now than it was a long time ago.