Human Resources committee  As we got into in the paper, we saw that there was a lot of energy and focus, primarily through the regional economic development agencies. Again, as with education, it's not so much an issue of the money that's being put into it; our observation is that a lot of these agencies d

Human Resources committee  Perhaps we should have a separate conversation on interprovincial barriers to trade, because that's long been a focus of the Canadian Chamber, but it wasn't a focus of this paper. This focus was on the federal government, but I'd be happy to send you some material. We have lots.

Human Resources committee  The short answer is yes, we do. The Canadian Chamber has been on this issue for several years. A lot has been accomplished, but there is still some work to do.

Human Resources committee  I don't want to harp on the same issue, but looking back at the Baffin Island example, I think the answer would be yes. Even though the government didn't necessarily have money to hand over, it certainly had in-kind support that turned out to be very valuable to the initiative.

Human Resources committee  No, we haven't.

Human Resources committee  For sure. This has come up in a couple of pieces of work the chamber has done in bringing together non-aboriginal and aboriginal business. Again, we think the government could play a role, either through Industry Canada's small business branch creating online portals for busine

Human Resources committee  I don't really have anything specific to say in terms of what the government should not be doing, but in terms of what we think government should be doing--and this won't surprise you, given our constituency--we think that business should be part of the conversation, perhaps a bi

Human Resources committee  Yes I do, although we're not advocating incremental spending—let's be clear on that. The Canadian Chamber is very much on the record as supporting the elimination of the deficit, so I guess we would suggest that the funding formula be re-examined.

Human Resources committee  I'm sorry?

Human Resources committee  That's correct.

Human Resources committee  That's important as well. I'm suggesting that the funding formula be re-examined with a view to eliminating that gap for first nations schools.

Human Resources committee  It depends on where you are. I couldn't give you an exact number. Again, it depends on whom you talk to. If you're talking to people in Nunavut, there are some concerns with the technology that's being used. We do talk about broadband and its importance as an element of critic

Human Resources committee  If we're being specific to education and training, I think perhaps we should be a bit more focused when we look at the needs of remote communities. We did hear from some of the business people that there is a tendency to want to trot everybody down to southern Canada for heavy eq

Human Resources committee  Absolutely, so that would be number one. Number two is looking at alternative ways of delivering skills and training, of not necessarily having on-site training and not necessarily having to take people out of the community, but looking at technology. I think number three wou

Human Resources committee  Well, again, as we suggest in the paper, I think the notion of partnerships, whether it be P3s or some type of forum that the government makes happen and that creates the ability to come together for those with infrastructure needs and those who perhaps have excess infrastructure