I have no idea why anyone would vote against good mine safety and an employment requirement on behalf of the development corporation. Motion No. 14 in Group No. 3 reads:
That Bill C-11 in Clause 12, be amended by adding after line 10 on page 5 the following:
“17. The Corporation, in conjunction with the Government of Canada or of Nova Scotia or any agency of either of these governments, shall adopt and continue all reasonable measures deemed necessary to reduce as far as possible the unemployment or economic hardship that is expected to result from the closing, privatization or reduction in the production of coal”.
This bill would reinstate the requirement for the development corporation and both the federal and the provincial governments to take all necessary steps and precautions to reduce the negative impact of the privatization or cessation of activities of the development corporation. Motion No. 15 in Group No. 3 reads:
That Bill C-11, in Clause 12, be amended by adding after line 10 on page 5 the following:
“17. The Corporation shall adopt all reasonable measures to reduce, to the fullest extent possible, any economic hardship or unemployment that may result from the closing of any coal mine operated by the Corporation”.
Again we support this initiative because it reinstates the requirement for the corporation to take all necessary steps to reduce the negative impact of the privatization or cessation of activities of Devco.
The motions categorized in Group No. 3 are very important to what we are trying to develop not only in Cape Breton but in terms of what we want to see carried out from coast to coast to coast with regard to proper occupational health and safety for mine workers in particular and an employment requirement on behalf of Devco.
Regarding the notion that the corporation should adopt all reasonable measures to reduce to the fullest extent possible any economic hardship, obviously there is coal in the ground in Nova Scotia. The mine nevertheless will be closed. We will be buying coal offshore. Some of us are very concerned from where the coal will be delivered to Nova Scotia.
Some of the miners have worked for 25 years or thereabouts. It is tough to retrain those people after a lifetime of working underground. They will not come up and suddenly qualify for the new emerging technology, the infotech the other buzzwords that are so prevalent.