Mr. Speaker, it seems that the successor program to TAGS has been decided by the federal cabinet. It is reported that the size and terms of the program were conveyed by the federal government to the provincial Newfoundland government yesterday.
This is an affront to members of the House who were assured they would be briefed on the content of the post-TAGS program by the minister of HRD.
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador also have a reason to be angry. First, TAGS is being wound up prematurely, a year earlier than promised. Second, rumour has it that sums involved in the new program are insufficient to address the scale of the human distress created by the collapse of the cod fishery. It does not appear that there will be a provision for a license buy back, traditional income support or early retirement packages.
Instead of a community based and administered program designed to help the fishers and plant workers of Atlantic Canada, the Minister of Finance and his officials concocted this plan so as to wipe their hands of this file. Their callous treatment of the people of Atlantic Canada will not soon be forgotten.