moved for leave to introduce Bill C-243, an Act to amend the Department of Labour Act (eligibility for assistance for long-service employees).
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mercier for seconding the motion for introduction of this bill which seeks to amend the Program for Older Workers Adjustment.
The private member's bill I have the pleasure to introduce today in this House seeks to correct a terrible inequity toward Montreal workers and all workers from a community having more that 500,000 inhabitants. A laid off Montreal worker is eligible to the Program for Older Workers Adjustment only if the company laid off more than 100 workers in a single group.
But it so happens that, in Montreal, the industrial make-up is such that the vast majority of companies employ 20 to 30 workers. As a consequence, 83 per cent of all applications under the OWA program in Montreal have been rejected. This bill seeks to change that situation. I hope it will be favourably received by government members.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)