Mr. Speaker, I am almost tempted to say, “This has been a paid message brought to you by the Department of Natural Resources”.
It is ridiculous to respond like this to a very serious problem. We are constantly being told that the government has invested $240 million for softwood lumber workers. That is not true. They invested $40 million for the bug problem in British Columbia. They invested $20 million for a research centre in Trois-Rivières, and they invested the rest to help workers across the country experiencing employment problems, not just in the softwood lumber industry, but any workers who were unemployed.
It is wrong to say that there is a specially designed program for softwood lumber workers. It is completely false. We have been out there, we have been to these places. We did not see any money. I would like the people of Baie-Trinité to hear what the member for Shefford is saying. I would like them to hear her little speech. They lost their jobs one year ago thanks to the negligence of this government, which has done nothing to solve the softwood lumber problem.
Now, she is telling us that they have something to help them. That is not true. There is nothing to help the workers of Baie-Trinité. Soon they will be on social assistance because their employment insurance is drying up. The mill has nothing in terms of new work.
This cannot really be considered a program designed for people suffering as a result of the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States.