Mr. Chair, I have a few comments about what some ministers and secretaries of State have said, as well as a question for my hon. colleague from the Bloc Québécois.
I wish to set the record straight. The people opposite are bragging about a program that saved several jobs. Maybe that was the case in the textile industry, and that is fine. I want to point out however that the program called CATIP, which has now been cancelled, did not apply to multinationals. To companies like Denim Swift, in Celanese, or Cavalier Textiles, in Drummondville, the program was useless. That is why I wanted to set the record straight.
The program was indeed helpful to some small businesses. I do not know why it does not exist anymore. The government cancels programs that work for some businesses and then, following consultations, it comes up with a handful of very timid measures at the eleventh hour to try and save face.
I would also like to point out that the American president of Swift Denim wrote the Minister of Finance twice. On the other side, this government is said to be very close to the situation and to management. But this was contradicted by the secretary of state responsible for financial institutions, who said that, if they did not speak with the unions, but only to management, and knew hardly anything about the situation, they could not intervene. I am sorry, but we have been talking about this for 10 years. It is the government's responsibility to implement specific measures to save textile enterprises in all our ridings across Canada.
I have a question for my hon. colleague concerning POWA, the program for older worker adjustment. I have received a letter from the coalition representing workers 45 and over who have lost their jobs at Denim Swift, in Drummondville. This letter says, “Did the government even bother to look into the situation? Does it have any alternatives to propose?”
This is a generation which includes people with little formal education. In our community, the vast majority of those affected have always worked in the textile industry. Will the government pay small organizations like this coalition, so that additional resources can be provided? This way, these people, real people, would be able to earn a living before retiring.
I would like to ask my hon. colleague to please address the importance of and urgent need for an assistance program, probably an improved POWA, to support the workers who just lost their jobs in Huntingdon and in my riding, as well as those who are likely to lose their jobs because of this government's lack of action.