Mr. Speaker, we are obviously very concerned about the situation of these workers who, some of them after many, many years with the mine, are losing their jobs now that it is closing.
This is why my department met, at the end of September, with both the employer and worker representatives, and quickly and efficiently set up $2.5 to $3 million in active measures to help them re-enter the job market.
I met with representatives of the workers last Wednesday and they told me that the application under the POWA program being requested by the Bloc Quebecois was not what they wanted.