Finance committee  Well, clearly, again, I go back to a combined strategy. We have two issues. We have a skills shortage. We also have a people shortage. So what we do in terms of a combined strategy for the federal government is take a look at what we are doing on immigration. Seventy-five percent of the immigration happens in three cities across Canada: Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Finance committee  Read the Edmonton Journal, the front page. You'll see a million dollars from an individual who owns a construction company to NorQuest because of the great work it's doing, and that's exemplary of some of the business and industry in Alberta.

Finance committee  I didn't say lower tuitions. I basically said tuitions are increasing and scholarships are an important vehicle. Certainly, the biggest part of education is not tuition; it actually is living costs. As you start seeing the cost of living going up in communities, the cost of going to school goes up, and it's exponential.

Finance committee  I think one of the key elements is that when you have a hot economy, clearly getting them in the door is not the problem; it's really trying to get them to go back for education and completion, because there are so many opportunities for projects and so forth. That's one of the current problems.

Finance committee  Obviously, education is a mandate of the provinces. But I think in terms of looking at legislation over the last 50 years, you'll see that the federal government has had a huge influence on post-secondary. Again, I would encourage the federal government to work with the provinces and to look at certain stakeholders, in terms of student groups, to look at some of the issues that are certainly faced by Canada if we want to have the knowledge economy participation and to be competitive.

Finance committee  Certainly the tax, in terms of looking at the credit for apprenticeship to business and industry to encourage employers to send their workers to the apprenticeship system, I think is a good one. I would suggest that it be continued. On the other hand, one has to look at what are some of the problems with the apprenticeship system, and certainly completion rates are an issue, a huge issue.

Finance committee  Thank you so much. Again, welcome to Ottaw...no, sorry, Fort McMurray. It's a pleasure to be here to represent our 17 public colleges and technical institutes. I'm going to ask Doug MacRae to give a very brief overview of our association, and then I'll continue on.

Finance committee  Thank you, Doug. If you look at the price of oil today, at $58 a barrel, twelve years ago you would have thought it had reached a high. So don't be dismayed by the price of oil or the price of gas. A lot of the projects here in Fort McMurray, and I'm hoping you get to visit them, are fifteen and twenty years in terms of their timeframe, and the skills shortage is a number one priority both here in the province and in Canada.