Mr. Speaker, next Saturday the BC mine in Black Lake will close down, leaving 300 workers without jobs. More than a third of these workers are aged 55 and over and their chances of finding other work are extremely slim, given the high unemployment rate in the region.
An application under the Program for Older Worker Adjustment, or POWA, was filed on March 17, 1996, while the government did not terminate the program until March 31, 1997.
Since the active measures the Minister of Human Resources Development is so proud of do not apply in this case, does the minister intend to reactivate the application—