I would like to suggest two priorities. There is POWA—the Program for Older Worker Adjustment—which I mentioned earlier. Urgent action should be taken and the available funding increased. To help you see the scale of things, I can compare the $1 billion the Canadian government is providing over three years for all of Canada with the $2.2 billion the Quebec government alone provided in recent years to help in this area. And some areas are still in a very bad way. I fully support the statement made by the representative of the Fédération des chambres de commerce, who said that the distribution of financial assistance must take into account each region's economic weight. What Quebec is receiving represents a far lower percentage than its industrial economic weight and is far too little to meet the needs of those in difficulty.
On March 10th, 2008. See this statement in context.