Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I rise to present this petition on behalf of approximately 8,700 people from Atlantic Canada who are calling upon the federal government to make changes to its post-TAGS early retirement program to devise a formula consisting of age plus years of attachment to the fishing industry.
There are grave injustices and inequities in the present program. People who are 53 and 54 years of age with 35 and 36 years of attachment do not qualify for the government's early retirement program. Yet someone who is 55 years of age and with 8 to 10 years of attachment to the industry are eligible for benefits.
This petition asks government to reconsider the early retirement program and to devise a formula consisting of age plus years of attachment.