When comparing the average salary of our members to the average salary of Ontario engineers, based on the year they received their engineering degree, the engineers employed by the federal government are about 18.5 per cent behind the external market.

The most in-demand occupations identified by our member companies are heavy equipment operators, heavy duty equipment mechanics, welders, truck drivers, petroleum services operators, petroleum services semi-skilled workers, including labourers, helpers, and experienced rig workers, and chemical, mechanical, and petroleum engineers.

Of course, the request for 200 engineers at this point in time would have meant pulling together engineers from many different units, including the 3rd Battalion of the PPCLI, which would have diminished the effective use of other forces because of the breaking up of the comprehensive team they are part of and the necessary service they provide for the battalion.

To conclude, I would like to talk about you and to deal with certain aspects of the engineering profession which have or should have a European dimension, such as training (structure and content), accreditation, lifelong learning, etc. But firstly, I would like to tell you how pleasantly surprised I was when I talked with my staff about your profession and found out that you are true pioneers in how you organise your studies, assess content and recognise qualifications. The best and most concrete example has been provided by your Federation in creating the qualification of "European Engineer".

(b) costs of the implementation of an operation, including the expenditure related to the provision of services, borne by a public authority that is itself the final beneficiary and which is executing an operation on its own account without recourse to outside engineers or other firms.

If you tell the average engineer in the Department of Transport the engineer must make an active offer of service in both languages and must to be able to provide services in both languages, that engineer will know what to do to gear up for that.