A group representing Canada's largest high-tech companies is challenging Prime Minister Jean Chretien's contention that the so-called brain drain to the United States is a hoax.

"Grey Owl's native ancestry was a hoax, prairie crop circles are a hoax, but the brain drain is an absolute, irrefutable Canadian fact," said Gaylen Duncan, President and CEO of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) in a release.

"We have a shortage of skilled workers in the information technology sector. That is a reality we live and breathe every day," he added.

The ITAC says a recent survey suggests that employers can't find workers to fill 30,000 high-tech jobs.

Duncan says that with a stronger dollar and lower taxes, U.S. companies are making offers Canadian workers can't refuse.

Chretien made his comments in an interview with the National Post. According to the report, which appeared Wednesday, Chretien said that fears of a brain drain have been fuelled by businesses hoping to get tax relief. The prime minister argued that in reality "we have less Canadians now moving to the United States than 20 years ago."

Duncan argues that "our tax system, which penalizes innovation and success, tilts the advantage toward the United States."