Canada's labor Woes

Canadian labor market problems



Diane Francis column Friday Post June 23:

Canada's labor situation worsens because needed reforms elude and politicians don't get it.

For instance, Gatineau contractor Jocelyn Dumais has been fighting Quebec's closed-shop labor laws for years and he called recently with some upsetting news. The McGuinty government last month backed off a piece of legislation that was designed to force Quebec to level the playing field in the construction industry.

For decades, Quebec has forbidden non-resident Canadians from taking construction jobs while Quebecers have been free to work anywhere else in the country. Notably, they swamped the labor markets along the borders until the Mike Harris government passed Bill 17 which forbid them from working in Ontario until Quebec backed off its restrictions.

"Last month the Ontario government cancelled Bill 17 which forbid Quebec construction workers from getting employment in Ontario unless Quebec changed its unfair labor laws," he said. "They call it a shared labor mobility agreement, but it's a fake."

"The Ontario government tried to get me to support this but it's not what we've been fighting for," he said. "Here's what they said they got in exchange: Ontario workers may apply to work there but there were many restrictions. They had to pass an exam, provide certain evidence of experience and had to already be working in Quebec. That's not labor mobility."

Ontario added that Quebec agreed to let Ontario residents accept construction jobs involving Hydro Quebec contracts, but only if the salaries were $100,000 or more.

"That was just an exemption for big contracting companies like Ellis Don," said Mr. Dumais.

He's one of my favorite Canadians and is founder of the Association for the Right to Work (www.adat.ca). Over the years, he has lobbied provinces, staged road blockages and raised hundreds of thousands to mount a Supreme Court of Canada case which, unfortunately, lost. (His charter challenge argued that if workers have the right to associate they also should have the right to not associate. The Court disagreed.)

But he hasn't given up and hopes to reverse this unfair deal. He also wants to warn Ontario that the McGuinty government is looking at closed-door laws like Quebec's because of all the illegals and non-union members working in the province.

By the way, Quebec's unions run the show there and their construction sector is embarrassingly restrictive: Workers must be union members or obtain a special work permit from the province which are about as readily available as Green cards. People are routinely rounded up on sites for the "crime" of working illegally, fined and even jailed.


Another Voice of Reason

Meanwhile, the labor situation worsens nationally as the giant sucking sound from Alberta's megaprojects continues apace and unions stand in the way of labor mobility through featherbedding and apprenticeship restrictions. What follows is a thoughtful letter from union member John Gilmurray:

"The real problem with labour policy in Canada is the union `local' system. On a recent visit to England and Ireland I was surprised that there are no locals, just one trade union congress for each country.

Everybody is hired directly by a construction company based on their resume. There are no grandfather clauses, no middle-aged white guys hanging around a union hall dishing out jobs to friends. Supply and demand are the rule. Thousands in Dublin have vacated jobs as teachers and bank clerks to become carpenters and electricians. No wonder they have one of the the best economies in the world."

"The present shortage of skilled labour in Alberta/Fort McMurray is an almost entirely artificial creation. A small percentage of the millions of skilled labour unemployed all over Europe could be in Alberta within weeks if our bungling federal immigration bureaucracy and archaic union locals would get the hell out of the way and allow our efficient market system to work."

"There are more people getting hired from carparks and street corners in the U.S. than are now dispatched from union halls. Globalization is creeping in through the back door. In Canada, the young people from Eastern Europe and South America who are turning up on construction sites all over Ontario, Alberta and B.C. may be the trail blazers of our future labour policy. The recent mass hiring of non union workers in Ft. Mcmurray,the construction of new Toyota plants all over the USA and Ontario spells a seismic change is afoot for our unions. Either we change or the new world market will do it for us."

Canada's Labor Law Problem

Diane Francis column Friday Post June 23:

Canada's labor situation worsens because needed reforms elude and politicians don't get it. For instance, Gatineau contractor Jocelyn Dumais has been fighting Quebec's closed-shop labor laws for years and he called recently with some upsetting news.

The McGuinty government last month backed off a piece of legislation that was designed to force Quebec to level the playing field in the construction industry. For decades, Quebec has forbidden non-resident Canadians from taking construction jobs while Quebecers have been free to work anywhere else in the country. Notably, they swamped the labor markets along the borders until the Mike Harris government passed Bill 17 which forbid them from working in Ontario until Quebec backed off its restrictions.

"Last month the Ontario government cancelled Bill 17 which forbid Quebec construction workers from getting employment in Ontario unless Quebec changed its unfair labor laws," he said. "They call it a shared labor mobility agreement, but it's a fake."

"The Ontario government tried to get me to support this but it's not what we've been fighting for," he said. "Here's what they said they got in exchange: Ontario workers may apply to work there but there were many restrictions. They had to pass an exam, provide certain evidence of experience and had to already be working in Quebec. That's not labor mobility."

"Ontario added that Quebec agreed to let Ontario residents accept construction jobs involving Hydro Quebec contracts, but only if the salaries were $100,000 or more. "That was just an exemption for big contracting companies like Ellis Don," said Mr. Dumais.

He's one of my favorite Canadians and is founder of the Association for the Right to Work (www.adat.ca). Over the years, he has lobbied provinces, staged road blockages and raised hundreds of thousands to mount a Supreme Court of Canada case which, unfortunately, lost. (His charter challenge argued that if workers have the right to associate they also should have the right to not associate. The Court disagreed.)

But he hasn't given up and hopes to reverse this unfair deal. He also wants to warn Ontario that the McGuinty government is looking at closed-door laws like Quebec's because of all the illegals and non-union members working in the province.

By the way, Quebec's unions run the show there and their construction sector is embarrassingly restrictive: Workers must be union members or obtain a special work permit from the province which are about as readily available as Green cards. People are routinely rounded up on sites for the "crime" of working illegally, fined and even jailed.


Another Voice of Reason

Meanwhile, the labor situation worsens nationally as the giant sucking sound from Alberta's megaprojects continues apace and unions stand in the way of labor mobility through featherbedding and apprenticeship restrictions. What follows is a thoughtful letter from union member John Gilmurray:

"The real problem with labour policy in Canada is the union `local' system. On a recent visit to England and Ireland I was surprised that there are no locals, just one trade union congress for each country. Everybody is hired directly by a construction company based on their resume. There are no grandfather clauses, no middle-aged white guys hanging around a union hall dishing out jobs to friends. Supply and demand are the rule. Thousands in Dublin have vacated jobs as teachers and bank clerks to become carpenters and electricians. No wonder they have one of the the best economies in the world."

"The present shortage of skilled labour in Alberta/Fort McMurray is an almost entirely artificial creation. A small percentage of the millions of skilled labour unemployed all over Europe could be in Alberta within weeks if our bungling federal immigration bureaucracy and archaic union locals would get the hell out of the way and allow our efficient market system to work."

"There are more people getting hired from carparks and street corners in the U.S. than are now dispatched from union halls. Globalization is creeping in through the back door. In Canada, the young people from Eastern Europe and South America who are turning up on construction sites all over Ontario, Alberta and B.C. may be the trail blazers of our future labour policy. The recent mass hiring of non union workers in Ft. Mcmurray,the construction of new Toyota plants all over the USA and Ontario spells a seismic change is afoot for our unions. Either we change or the new world market will do it for us."

The New Canada

May 23 Post column:

NEW YORK CITY -- Canada's Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, brought an upbeat message to Wall Street and to expatriates living in New York City yesterday about "the New Canada".

"There's optimism up there and you should think about coming home," he told a lunchtime audience at the Canadian Club. "I'm told there's a bit of a reverse brain drain in the financial sector these days."

Canadian unemployment is the lowest it has been in 30 years and employment rates have set new records, he said. Increasing investments in new machinery will enhance productivity levels in manufacturing, which is being hurt by the soaring Canadian dollar.

"There's going to be C$5.6 billion of investments in the auto sector," he said. "And C$45 billion in the oil sands by 2010. Exports will triple in ten years."

He also fielded questions from expats such as the cost of bilingualism and the danger of commodity price volatility to the Canadian economy and its currency.

"We like to avoid sudden changes and watch commodity prices carefully. We also watch U.S. housing starts," he told the audience of 200. "But these are markets and markets do what they will do."

As for the Canadian dollar, he cited China, other Asian economies and U.S. fiscal deficits as being part of the problem.

"I don't talk about the value of the Canadian dollar, but it certainly has borne the brunt of the reduction in the value of the U.S. dollar," he said. "There are three big risks in the global economy: global economic imbalances; the inflexibility of certain Asian currencies and concern about some fiscal policies in western countries that don't lead to balanced budgets."

Another audience member asked why French is emphasized when Mandarin or Cantonese are far more important languages in the global economy.

"Canada has two official languages. My ability in French is limited and it's something I'm working on," said Mr. Flaherty, a native Montrealer. "But there are more languages spoken in Toronto than any other city in the world and in my view that's an enormous asset."

In a press conference, and then in a private interview, Mr. Flaherty elaborated on his remarks.

Q: What about bank mergers and allowing banks to sell insurance?

A: "We have said there will be no change in the status quo. Parliament has a role to play in this and certain of its committees will look at the issues."

Q: Will the new Tory government allow the takeover of Falconbridge or Inco or both by a foreign corporation such as Xstrata Inc . or others?

A: It's not my responsibility as Minister of Finance. But the minister involved is reviewing that. Obviously, we're more inclined to be free and fair traders. But I'm not referring to any specific transaction. And there are other issues involved in this case I'm told.

Q: You and Treasury Board minister John Baird are searching to cut C$1 billion from spending this year, are you looking at cutting the CBC's subsidy which is nearly that size?

A: "We're going to look at everything in coming weeks. There are no sacred cows."

Q: You're top of the polls, could win a majority if you called an election sooner rather than later, but are you going to do that given the cost of an election (C$200 million)?

A: "We want to govern and we are not shy about putting forward our priorities even though we are a minority government. We are keeping our commitments about tax cuts and accountability. We think we have voters who voted for change."
"But I have noted recently a more obstreperous attitude in Parliament. And we still have our budget bill and accountability bill to pass, then we will go from there. The Liberals will have no new leader until December."

Q: What do you think Canada will look like in five years if you win a majority?

A: "It will look more like Ireland, more dynamic, more attractive to investors, brighter, more positive, outward looking."

Q: Are you talking to the Governor of the Bank of Canada about keeping interest rates down to take the steam out of the Canadian dollar's rise?

A: "We don't speak about it. We do have discussions and it's my legal obligation to do so."

Q: What do you feel about Kyoto?

A: "It's a failure with unrealistic targets, a policy written on the back of an envelope by the former government, according to Scott Brison, now running for the Liberal leadership. It's a charade. Emissions are up. It's a serious issue and we have allocated funds to mass transit and reduction of emissions."

Q: Are you surprised at how well the government is doing in the polls in Canada?

A: "Polls are polls. But I think it's a credit to Prime Minister Stephen Harper because Canadians are thirsty for a real leader. They don't agree with everything he has done but he is businesslike and gets it done. And I don't have to flatter him either because I'm already doing okay. I'm Finance Minister.

Ambassadorial View from Washington

Diane Francis column may 23


NEW YORK CITY - Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson set aside some time this week for an interview on his new job. His tenure has been dominated by the softwood lumber file, allowing him to spend only a handful of days in Washington, but there are many other interesting challenges ahead.

Q. How did your ambassadorship come about?
A. It came out of the blue. Derek Burney asked me early on in January, during the election, if I was looking for anything. I said no. I just want to see this team win. After the election, the rumor about me was bubbling and this was the only thing that would have brought me back in public life."

Q. What's the attraction?
A. "The attraction is to be in the most important capital of the world today...to be there, when both the president and prime minister have gotten around bumps in the road and all those problems are behind us."

Q. What's the attitude toward Canada?
A. "Certain people in the administration were quite upset with the Iraq decision. Some people said they were less upset by the decision than by the way the decision was given [without advance warning].

Q. What's the view toward Canada as an ally today?
A. "It's clear we are an ally because the Prime Minister's first international visit was to Afghanistan. This sent an important signal to our troops over there. It sent a signal to the Canadian people that it's important to us as a country to help a democracy survive and it also sent an important signal to our 34 allies in the Afghan coalition."

Q. The Canadian tourist industry is concerned about the new requirement, as of January 2008, that anyone entering the U.S. must have a passport. This will mean that Americans visiting Canada will have to have a passport to re-enter the U.S. and since only 20% have passports it will destroy tourism and conference sectors. What are we doing about this?
A. "Americans are not saying there has to be a passport. There could be an identity card. There is a group of Canadians and Americans working on the technology, how people can acquire cards and systems integration, or linking cards to data bases. Until they determine the action required, there's no need to pound on the table. Let's wait to see if we're facing a real problem on implementation."
"We have no quarrel with the security concerns. Security trumps most things in Washington. And Canada has been pulling its weight since 9/11. We have spent C$10 billion on border and customers securities, immigration cooperation, sharing information. Have we done enough? We have to do more."
"We also have to address misinformation. Two months ago, someone said 11 of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks had come from Canada. Not one of them did. This is frustrating. We are looking at ways of addressing that challenge by identifying what we've done to the American public. We don't want terrorists in our country anymore than Americans do. We don't want people blowing up the TD Centre or whatever."

Q. What dangers do you see lurking in the U.S. political climate that could adversely affect Canada?
A. "This country is thinking in a more protectionist and isolationist way than we've seen in a number of years. Leadership is important, both in the administration and Congress. They cannot let the most powerful nation in the world withdraw into itself."

Q. What about Canada's energy trump card?
A. "Energy is number one for us. Our export of energy is very definitely appreciated but this is not a card to play at this time."
"In oil, we are the number one exporter and sell more to the U.S. than Mexico, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. These countries have a less secure profile and we must nremind people of this reality so when the Americans come to us with another problem they have a more positive mindset. Our energy situation, particularly the oil sands, becomes a beneficial backdrop to any discussions with Americans."

Q. Given the C$'s strength is there any chance of a single currency?
A. "No. Look at the last 20 years. In 1986, the C$ was 69 cents, in 1990n it was 88.5, in 2002, 62 cents and now it's 90ish. Take that flexibility out of the economy, and you have to get flexibility somewhere else. One part of the economy might benefit from a fixed dollar and it would be worse for another part. By blending the currencies you would build in a new stress."

Genghis Con Job

Diane Francis column Wednesday may 17:

Mongolia will be kicked into the economic dark ages if its President signs a draconian law passed last week which virtually confiscates all mining operations.

And the Canadian government should get involved. Ottawa should issue a stern rebuke given the damage that will be caused to Canadian companies and their investors who have poured millions into Mongolian exploration and operations in good faith.

Canada's mining industry dominates exploration and development in that country. Hundreds of Canadian companies, led by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and Centerra Gold, will be adversely affected by the law which abrogates agreements made with the industry since the collapse of communism there in the early 1990s.

Their shares fell dramatically this week on news of the tax which was passed late last Friday night. It must be signed by the President of Mongolia to become law.

"The problem with Mongolia is that there is a lot of government there, but no leadership," said mining consultant Terry Ortslan with TSO & Associates in Montreal. "This will look bad on them and if the President signs this legislation, mining activity will dry up."

The proposed windfall profits tax would allow government to grab 68% of the prices above levels not seen in several years. For instance, the government would take 68% of copper prices above $1.18 a pound. It's currently trading as high as $4 a pound. It would take 68% of gold prices above $500 an ounce. Gold is currently above $700 an ounce.

Centerra, spun off from Saskatchewan's Cameco Ltd., is producing gold in Mongolia and will be immediately impacted. Ivanhoe is still exploring and has yet to sign a binding agreement with the government there.

Mongolia's parliamentarians appear to have been swept up in a form of misguided economic nationalism aimed at grabbing revenue in light of record commodity prices.

Threats of new royalties, and more drastic measures, are sweeping Indonesia, Africa and parts of Latin America. Venezuela is threatening to nationalize its oil industry. Bolivia recently seized gas fields. Peru is talking about high royalties after the fact on mining operations.

"Mongolia is not unique," said Ortslan.

But what was unique about Mongolia was its business-like approach to attracting exploration. Its Mining Act was drawn from similar laws in Australia, Canada and the United States and offered great incentives for companies to explore and promised to reward success.

It was the most generous regime in the world which was necessary to attract activity to a hostile, cold, landlocked and remote country perched atop China.

I visited the country in August and its officials sounded convincing.

"Mongolia looks forward to becoming a mining powerhouse," said Mongolia's Minister in charge of resources, Lursanvandan Bold, in an interview in his office in Ulaan Bataar last August. He spoke flawless English and German to a group of European money managers assembled to learn about the country's mining regime. '

"Last year, 4% of all exploration dollars spent around the world were invested here," he said. "We are now one of the top ten exploration destinations in the world and the only Asian country in that list."

The country had a right to be proud.
'
Currently, there are 6,000 licenses for exploration and mining granted to 800 companies. Nearly one-third of its total land mass, which is three times' bigger than France, has been licensed for exploration.

The country is an Asian version of Canada complete with its cold climate, space, sparse population and resource wealth which includes everything from oil and natural gas to coal, uranium, gold, copper, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, phosphorite and silver. There are also discoveries
of massive underground water reserves beneath the Gobi.

But last week's events show that its politicians seem bent on reneging on their promises.

This will cost the country its credibility and prove to be an enormous mistake. Mongolia will revert to its backward state. Before the 1997 Minerals Act, the country's mining industry consisted of a handful of foreign explorers and a few inefficient Russian mines in operation.

"The Russians have a gigantic, joint venture mine with Mongolia and will be furious over this," said Mr. Ortslan. "That mine represents half the trade earnings for the entire country."

Ivanhoe Chairman Robert Friedland was one of the first to be attracted to Mongolia and within short order his geologists made a massive copper-gold discovery, Oyo Tolgoi. Ivanhoe has been spending US$10 million a month drilling holes, testing results and pouring a gigantic
concrete shaft in preparation for production.

Ivanhoe's find is Mongolia's flagship mining prospect and helped spawn a mining boom in this landlocked country of 2.5 million Mongols and 40 million livestock.

"It's unfortunate for Mongolia to make such a major error. They are sending a message to the world. The President should come out and say he's not signing it and that the country keeps its promises."

Stephen Harper's Business Smarts

Diane Francis column for Wednesday Post May 10:


Canadians finally got it right when they turfed out the Liberals and took a
chance with the Tories and Stephen Harper.

Business is satisfied with his government so far, and should be. The tone of this government is vastly improved and in just three months there have been two achievements - the settlement of the softwood lumber deal and an excellent budget last week.

The budget hit all the right notes and even drew fire from the country's handful of neo-con commentators, all three of them. The significance

of this is that it means the budget positioned the Tories dead centre and away, policy-wise, from the extreme right as well as the extreme left.

In other words, the Tories are the country's only pro-business party of the
center. And that's a winning franchise in Canada from coast to coast. This is because the majority of Canadians understand that their welfare state can only be fuelled by wealth creation.

The budget also benefited everyone. Lower income families gained the most, proportionately, from the lower GST and the $100-a-month child allowance. The childcare funds also disproportionately benefit immigrants, who often share childrearing responsibilities in their homes among family members and do not desire, nor need, institutionalized daycare.

Clearly, the business-like manner of this government and the absence of scandal puts the lie to the labels of Stephen Harper as "scarey" or that the party is “populated by extreme wing nuts” ready to gut the social safety net.

Harper's leadership style is also a winner in the eyes of business. He
leads his caucus like a CEO runs a public corporation which means transparency, full disclosure to "shareholders” and clear messages from a single spokesperson.

The control of press communications has upset the Liberal media, and various scrum-rats, who are really fight promoters, not political reporters. They love nothing more than to ferret out showboats like Carolyn Parrish or other loose cannons. So far, so good and caucus discipline has held firm.

Most of all, the Harper government is good news because it means that the country's business community can relax a little. Business life is tough enough without facing worries over anti-American remarks by Liberals in cabinet or policies imposed by closet socialists who misunderstand or dislike capitalism.

Of course, not everything has been handled well by the Tories. The flag flap was a mistake and the government had no business making unilateral decisions without consulting veterans, the military or bereaved families.

But Harper’s economic policies are pretty flawless to date. And he deserves full marks for tabling legislation that will clean out the corruption that the Liberals left behind. Giving the Auditor General teeth is a great step forward, along with other measures.

Diplomatically, the Tories have pulled off the unattainable by settling the software dispute. For years, the nation’s softwood lumber producers have been damaged by the nastiness of the Liberals toward Americans.

The problem began when Jean Chretien appointed his nephew, Raymond Chretien, as Canada's Ambassador to the United States. Clearly, Raymond was better suited to another line of work. In 2000, he was quoted in the press undiplomatically favoring the Democrats over the Republicans in that election.

After the Republicans won, the gaffe was never overcome despite Raymond’s sudden transfer to Paris. Worse yet, Uncle Jean escalated the disdain through his own ill-considered words and deeds, then unleashing his name-calling anti-Americans. This was equivalent to the captain of the hockey team swinging at the referee.

So the Liberals lost the only viable solution to the softwood problem. To look like they were doing something productive, they foolishly opted to spend tens of millions of dollars in American and international trade courts.

It was a doomed strategy because appeals are endless, the softwood lumber has always been a special managed relationship exempt from the Free Trade deal and because American trade courts always favor the home team.

Softwood lumber has never freely traded because of politics and the Liberals under Chretien and Martin never understood how the U.S. system works.

Washington is not a parliamentary hierarchy, but a co-management system. This means that the only lobbyist and litigator that can help, or will, help foreigners fend off Congressional protectionism is the occupant in the White House.

And all it took on the part of the Tories was to bring back civility in its dealings with the White House. In no time, the administration waded into the controversy and stopped the damages imposed by protectionists on Canada’s softwood lumber producers.

Such relations are part of the DNA of the Tory party, by the way. This is because a pro-business party understands that diplomacy and trade are no

different than any deal between two parties. Mutual respect is the infrastructure needed in order to do business.

How about getting Canadians working???

Diane Francis column Tuesday Feb. 7:



NEW YORK CITY -- Australia is desperately looking for tradesmen and has undertaken its largest immigration drive in 40 years across Europe. Like Canada, Australia is a resource-rich country in the middle of a commodity price boom without enough skilled workers to realize its potential.

The Australians are offering four-year visas to anyone under 45 years of age with six years’ experience in a trade that’s on Australia’s “skills shortage list”. They promise entry within three working days,

Canada, on the other hand, faces an even greater shortage, particularly in its booming oil sands region
And yet, Ottawa’s immigration department remains snail-like in its processing of workers with needed skills. Even more puzzling, unemployment among construction workers in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces is between 30% and 40%, according to StatsCan figures.

There’s also thousands of illegal construction workers who have filled shortages in booming Ontario from Ukraine and Poland. They would love to get visas so they could move out west or wherever there was work. But Ottawa has yet to admit, or process, these people.

The province with the biggest looming crisis is Alberta and its Premier Ralph Klein has begun to look for solutions.
"There are lots of big projects on the books here in Alberta, and the only thing holding them back is a shortage of skilled labour,” he said,

For instance, Alberta is contemplating new roads to link the oil sands region to remote aboriginal communities in order to tap manpower.

The province has also earmarked millions to train another 5,600 technical workers. The number of licensed apprentices has increased by 50 per cent since 1997. The government is working with school boards to promote the trades as a viable career choice, and moves are being made to try and open doors to temporary foreign skilled workers to help meet the demand, he added.

Meanwhile, the oil patch is not standing still. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s oil sands play is the country’s most ambitious. The company’s contractor, Horizon Construction Management Ltd., has undertaken an aggressive and innovative recruitment strategy. It has overcome the accommodation and transportation problem by creating a fly-in camp at a nearby resort to house workers. Some are on a two-week-on, one-week-off work stint.

“Horizon invites all qualified trades people and indentured apprentices to express an interest in joining our contractor’s teams,” reads its website. “The Horizon Project offers flights to and from worksite, first class camp facilities and leading edge work force and skills upgrading opportunities.”

The trades sought are: carpenter; scaffolder; skilled laborer; ironworker; plumber; crane operator; pipe fitter/steamfitter; millwright; electrician; welder; instrumentation; insulator; equipment operator; boilermaker and cement finisher.

Debbie Wershler, staffing manager at Duke Energy, said in a recent Canwest interview, that individual companies have been trying to solve many of these problems without much success and now they have a platform to find common solutions in an industry that is fiercely competitive.

"The best way to make a big impact is for all of the industry to pull together," says Wershler. She says if companies wait too long, they will find themselves scrambling to find the workers required for the industry to increase production by the 50 to 100 per cent expected within the next 10 years.

Fortunately, industry organizations are beginning to consult with one another in the country’s petroleum regions – the oil sands; the east coast; the far north and the traditional basins in the three westernmost provinces.

Add to those challenges will be the thousands of workers needed for the construction of pipelines to link the oil sands, far north and Alaska gas to markets.

Large companies can mount campaigns to attract employees, but the issue affects all businesses in western Canada. A recent Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey in Alberta found that 60% of its members cited worker shortages as their biggest challenge.

What’s needed is pretty obvious. More efficiency and targeting in terms of immigration and more encouragement of kids by their teachers and parents to enter trades.

But governments can and should only do so much. The real solution – given Canada’s western boom and eastern stagnation -- is for the market to adjust. Western Canada’s businesses and oil companies will have to dramatically up the ante to attract workers. As they increase wages, along with housing and other benefits, the workers will come.