Canada is the best country in the world, isn’t it? We just can’t think of anywhere better. Compare us to anywhere else on Earth, and I think it’s fair to say: there’s nowhere safer, with more opportunities in the present and in the future, where people are freer or healthier or happier. And if you think about what makes Canada the top of its class, a truly powerhouse economy, think clearly and it will click: skilled workers are at the heart of it.

Take healthcare, for instance. We Canadians rightly take pride in our world-class, universal healthcare system. But providing quality care for every Canadian takes more than good will and pride. It takes infrastructure – hospitals, clinics, roads for our ambulances to drive on, and helipads for our medivacs to land on. For all this – for a functioning healthcare system – you can thank skilled workers, who build and maintain all the various facets of this infrastructure that saves the lives of young and old.

Or, take climate change as another example. In the fight to build a cleaner environment and to secure a world for our children and grandchildren, our whole country has leapt enthusiastically towards a green energy future. Across the country you’ll find green energy of every kind – tidal power on the East Coast, wind mills in Ontario, solar panels out west, and everything, everywhere in between. For all this – for a greener future – you can thank skilled workers, who build and maintain these trailblazing, life-giving, job-creating energy sources.

The skilled trades don’t need to be humble about this reality. So much of what we love about Canada – what gives us pride as Canadians – was built by the hands of skilled tradespeople. Our whole economy, and everything that it needs to function, was built by the hands of skilled tradespeople. It’s one reason why we here at Canadians United For Change take so much pride in skilled workers across this country. When we think about the Canada we love, we think about them – and we recommit ourselves to advancing the skilled trades across Canada.