I want to go on the record on behalf of the New Democratic Party caucus in support of this motion. I think it's absolutely necessary and certainly timely in light of the damage that is happening in communities, particularly in my experience across northern Ontario, where community after community is losing its mill and the whole town then is traumatized. People aren't sure what they're going to do. They are in immediate need of some income security so that they can have some time to plan for their future.
It seems to me that the EI fund, which has some major challenges following changes that were made to that system back in the early to mid-1990s, is a perfect vehicle to use to this end. If we simply leave those communities to their own efforts, we will end up with a lot of devastated towns, families, and individuals, as this change to the forestry industry takes hold and rolls itself out.
I know from having travelled across northern Ontario with a private member's bill that I proposed to the government to give FedNor, for example, bumped up capacity to actually participate, make some investments, and give some leadership in that part of the country, and having sat down and talked with leaders in those communities, that they're beside themselves as to what to do.
I look back to the early 1990s when my own community of Sault Ste. Marie was in some difficult straits and governments, both provincial and federal, came to the table with leadership, with resources, and with the willingness to see a future for those industries. Whereas at that time Algoma Steel, St. Marys Paper, and the Algoma Central Railway were virtually in bankruptcy, we were able to turn that around and they are now today very important pieces of infrastructure in that whole area, providing employment and generating great wealth and opportunity for further investment. I think this could be the case for many towns across Canada in front of this very devastating forestry challenge that we're facing.
I was in Welland, your own area, about a week ago and spoke with some of the leadership there: people who are using their own resources along with some small contribution by different levels of government to try to deal with the results of the downsizing in the manufacturing sector. It's pretty depressing to listen to the stories and to hear these people talk about the effort and lack of resources that families are experiencing as they try to deal with some of the impact of the change in the manufacturing sector, particularly in the Welland area.
I am here this morning on behalf of our caucus to say that we will certainly be supporting any initiative that will provide people, communities, and some of these industries with some assistance to get through this very difficult time, to restructure, and to provide the opportunity that I believe is central to the Canadian economy and will be again at some point.
This is a very worthwhile resolution to be debating here this morning. It's very timely, and I think we should all get behind it and support it, so that we can get that kind of support out to those communities, those families, and those people in this very difficult time.