Clearly, what we really need is a plan.
Mr. Railton talked about the uncertainty that workers are feeling. That uncertainty is real. They know change is happening. They know their jobs are in jeopardy. Some have already lost their jobs.
Instead of just talk and hand-waving and promises about maintaining the status quo when it's clearly gone, we need a plan. We need an industrial plan that is established by governments at all levels—federal, provincial and municipal. We need funding to incent developments, and there's no shortage of opportunities, whether it's clean tech, renewable energy or housing retrofits.
There's no shortage of opportunities for job creation, but it needs a plan, it needs a push and it needs funding. We can't wait for the private sector to do this, because if we do, it will be a disorderly transition, as opposed to an orderly one, and it's workers and communities who will suffer, especially in places such as Alberta that have been reliant on the oil and gas industry for so long. It was a pillar of our past, but it can't be for our future.