Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
In ten days, the BC mine in Black Lake will be closing down and putting 300 people out of work, most of them over the age of 50, in a region that is already devastated by unemployment. There is no future for these workers, who have little chance of finding other work.
Can the minister tell us what active measures are being contemplated to return these people to the work force, and also what answer he could give to the appeal they have made to the minister, these 300 workers who—