Mr. Speaker, the question comes at a very appropriate time. It gives me the opportunity to point out to the hon. member and other members of the House that up to this point, with the program in place a little less than a year, we have already been able to process over 38,000 applications for assistance from the groundfishery.
Over 25,000 of those people have received direct counselling to look for alternative options. We have over 14,000 people placed in training programs, of which 4,000 are taking direct literacy programs. Several hundred have started their own businesses. Several hundred are now working on a number of green resource conservation projects. Several hundred have been able to get work in other areas.
In other words we are demonstrating that while we are facing a major tragedy, the collapse of the fishery, the federal government through the support of unions, business and certainly the people of the Atlantic provinces and Quebec is showing that Canada can respond by giving people some real hope when they face that kind of calamity.