Mr. Speaker, this question comes from an hon. member whose party just recently put out a statement that it would eliminate about $12 billion from social programs. That would force most of the people in Atlantic Canada into abject and utter poverty.
The program has been in place for nine months. In that nine months we have received 52,000 applications; 40,000 people have been processed; 26,000 have been given basic benefits; 15,000 are on well-designed training programs; and over 1,000 are working on conservation resource projects. This is in the first nine months.
We do not deny it was an enormous and difficult task to try to rescue an entire industry that has collapsed in that region, but at least we are trying. We are working with the people of Atlantic Canada. We are relying on their resourcefulness, not the kind of negative 18th century thinking of the hon. member.