Madam Speaker, the hon. member stated that the program for older worker adjustment, known as POWA, discriminates against Montreal.
I would like to make a very strong case that it is not the case at all.
The program for older worker adjustment is a program designed to help older workers who have been involved in major permanent layoffs and who have little chance of finding re-employment.
Major layoffs are defined according to the size of the community. In larger communities such as those of over 500,000 inhabitants a major layoff would involve at least 100 workers. In smaller communities such as those with a population of under 10,000 a major layoff would involve at least 20 workers.
POWA does not discriminate against Montreal compared with other cities. The same guidelines are applied across the country.
The POWA eligibility criteria were negotiated with the government of Quebec and are contained in the Canada/Quebec POWA framework agreement. Similar POWA eligibility criteria are contained in the other federal-provincial agreements.
POWA criteria were developed to take into account the economic significance of the layoffs for the local community and to reflect the fact that older workers who are laid off in smaller communities have fewer re-employment opportunities than workers in the larger labour market.
Under POWA 441 major layoffs have been designated in the province of Quebec. Annuities have been purchased for 3,842 eligible older workers. The federal and Quebec governments have spent $160 million to purchase these annuities.