I’m surprised to hear the NDP defending Justin Trudeau, frankly. And yes, I have expressed my dissatisfaction with the lack of consultation by the federal government. But don’t just listen to me: In fact, the BC Premier, who is an NDP Premier, said, “My message for Minister Miller would be to work with the province on this.... A federally dictated cap could have profound and negative impacts.”

From the NDP BC housing minister, Minister Kahlon: “The concern I have is they need to talk to the provinces on how they are going to do this. Saying they are going to put a cap on might sound good and get them through a media cycle, but these are people we are talking about.”

New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education Minister Holder said the cap “is going to be a major challenge. It’s going to throw a major wrench into the whole recruitment side of things this year ... penalized for their good work” when it comes to recruiting international students needed to help address the local labour market needs.

In fact, the federal minister did absolutely no consultation with any of the provinces, and yes, we are all dissatisfied with the result.

But myself and many members of this House—and I spoke with the minister of small businesses about the impact that we’re going to see on our local economies. Again, not just from me, but I have a quote from the CFIB president Dan Kelly: “The recent changes will impact many small businesses who are grappling with labour shortages, particularly those in smaller and rural communities.... While it’s understandable why government wants to put some limits in place, it needs to move carefully and consider implications for the whole economy.”

The Niagara chamber of commerce, Hugo Chesshire: “If there is a sudden drop in the number of graduating students in these professions, in these trades and then, years down the line as that gap works down into the labour market, there’ll be another labour shortage to come.” There just won’t be “enough students.”

Mr. Speaker, we will be looking forward to our response coming shortly.