I know Arlene's been active on the small modular reactor file as well. That's something we're really encouraged about.
It is related to my remarks in terms of transitioning workers from the traditional oil and gas energy sector into the new energy projects of the future. Projects like small modular reactors, hydrogen and carbon sequestering are going to take large capital investments. It is also going to take investments into training programs—through our union training centres and also more broadly through the community college system—to help train workers for the new greener economy. I'm not even talking about retrofits for commercial and residential buildings and industrial buildings.
That's a really important file. The creation of these new, cleaner technologies and the training that's required is really important to our members.
Permanently abolishing the clawback of separation moneys is a huge benefit to our membership. We're really quite thankful to the government and to Minister Qualtrough for including that in the budget. We have had conversations with the minister and various other MPs around the importance of this to our members.
It's really just a question of what's fair. For our union members, separation moneys are actually money they earned while they were working. It's basically a holdback from the employer. Under the previous regime, they were actually being penalized by delaying their EI claim on earnings that have already happened. This is a really good, positive step forward. It's well received by our members who have to access employment insurance.