Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the member for his question.
Huntingdon, it must be said, is just the tip of the iceberg. It stands out the most. We are talking about six companies closing in a small community. However, I would recall that there were closings in Trois-Rivières, Montmagny, Magog and Montreal. Just recently, a company closed in the Maskinongé area as well. We must be very aware of the fact that our industry has to be restructured. It cannot rest on its laurels, confident that we will protect it ad infinitum.
As we did in the past at the time of the North American Free Trade Agreement and also in previous decades, we need a program to help the industry restructure. This having been said, there will be some job losses of course, because companies are too outmoded technologically or because fewer workers than before will be needed as the result of technological innovation. A program to help older workers is one element. I emphasize this to the member, because we said: “With regard to these three elements.”
In the Bloc Québécois's proposals to the government, we also want a transfer of $200 million to the Government of Quebec—and this applies as well in the case of the other provinces—to provide occupational training programs. People will then be able to retrain or to work with the new technologies or in new occupations that will be created as this industry restructures.
So the member is quite right. This element seems essential to us. I recall that these assistance programs existed until 1997. We used them—I remember very well—in the case of the steel industry closures in the Sorel area and the mine closures in the asbestos region.