Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this very important question from the member for Ottawa—Vanier. Job losses are of course a major concern to this government, particularly when we have a merger such as this.
In a review of this issue, let me assure the hon. member and all members of this House that the question of jobs will be of paramount concern to us when we talk to the companies. We will try to minimize job losses. We will try to ensure that there are generous severance packages for those who might lose their jobs or take early retirement.
We want to see retraining packages so that people can take advantage of the 4,200 to 5000 new jobs which are predicted—