I think it is important to remember the context. There was a strike prior to the lockout at Lebel-sur-Quévillon—it was the strike at Radio Nord—which is part of a region. We live in a region made up of small and mid-sized towns. When there is a strike at one business, quite often it is the whole municipality that is on strike. The strike at Radio Nord lasted more than two years. Had that company decided to shut down after the strike, the workers would not have been eligible for employment insurance. And that is exactly what happened at Lebel-sur-Quévillon.
Lebel-sur-Quévillon is a single-industry town. The town and its surrounding area are not immune, and provision must be made for that. Most of the people who went there moved to Lebel-sur-Quévillon and bought houses with the intention of spending their lives there. They worked there for 25 or 30 years, or even more than 30 years in many cases. They are very well established there, they have homes there. Lebel-sur-Quévillon is an isolated town. The closest town is 170 kilometers away. People cannot be travelling 170 kilometers every morning and every evening to go to work. They were not able to qualify for an additional period of EI benefits.
That could happen to other towns. Workers have no control in these cases; it is the company that is in control. Often a company will use a lockout or force workers to go on strike in order to extend its restructuring period, in order to stay afloat. If they realize, once the strike or lockout is over, that this is not going to be possible, they shut down. And who suffers the consequences? The people that work for the company.