See, I told you we could bring the temperature down, Mr. Speaker. How about that?
I want to start by talking about the dynamics of the riding. I also want to talk about rural Canada and in particular, rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
My riding has over 200 communities, an incredibly large number of communities. They are all small and very rural but unique and very special, each and every one of them. When we consider government policy, it is always a balancing act between the urban areas and the rural areas, and sometimes we forget that the rural areas of this country, in particular those in Newfoundland and Labrador, mean a lot. They are engines that provide our food. They provide many of our workers as well. Sometimes we tend to forget that.
I would encourage all members who are rural MPs, whether they are red, blue, yellow, green or whatever, to speak out loudly that rural issues are very important. Because our ridings are not overly represented in this House, and I say that somewhat facetiously, we do have to stand up. I invite all members to do that. In the past little while the debate has brought many of these issues to the forefront and I congratulate all of my hon. colleagues in doing that.
In my riding and in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, fishing is a major occupation. Many of the people in my riding call it the backbone of Newfoundland and Labrador and I agree. It has been for over 500 years. We are the oldest colony in North America and we have a tremendous, rich history in fishing.
When it comes to the budget, I heard one hon. member from Nova Scotia talk about reciprocity and giving accolades. I will start this by saying that I give accolades to the government on the issue of the $500,000 capital gains tax exemption. It is something that has been fought for for an incredibly long time. I would like to personally congratulate the member for Cardigan in Prince Edward Island for his tremendous work on a private member's bill to make this happen. Now the government has included it and I congratulate some of the members opposite who worked with me on the fisheries committee.
However, what bothers me about this particular budget is not so much what was said, but what was not said.
Currently in Newfoundland and Labrador fish processing is going through probably one of the toughest times ever. There is a company called FPI, Fishery Products International. The primary processing group is facing incredibly tough times and is now about to make some very tough, detrimental decisions. The government needs to be there for the workers. This is essential for Newfoundland and Labrador. It is essential for the people who work in the fishing industry. Generation after generation it comes down to this in our industry.
What was not mentioned in the budget was the fact that what is needed for hundreds of plant workers in Newfoundland and Labrador is an early retirement program. I hope members are listening. They do not seem to be but I would like to repeat that one more time. We need an early retirement program in the fishing industry, licensed buy-back. We need to rationalize the industry itself. What this early retirement program would do is it would save our communities. It would not take much for the government to look to the people in the outports of Newfoundland and say, “We believe in you and we believe in your communities, and if you want to transition into something else, we will let you do that”.
There are incredible opportunities in the oil and gas industry. We have a talented workforce, young, bright, energetic, but they are leaving. They are leaving in droves. At Gander airport I am tired of walking over the puddles of tears shed by mothers and fathers who are crying because their children are leaving, not because they want to but because they have to. It is one of the most pathetic sights to see in my riding.
An early retirement program allows workers aged 50 to 55 to leave the industry with grace. It gives them the exit strategy to allow young people into this industry and it allows those young people to stay home. It allows them to build futures in their homes from Buchans to Bishop's Falls and from Twillingate to Bonavista and all points in between.
These people who have young children watch them and educate them, and they believe in them, but they also believe in their communities. Several years ago now, the FFAW, the union in Newfoundland and Labrador, put forward a good formula for early retirement. The average age of a worker in a plant is now above 50. We walk into a plant and see so many people above the age of 55 that, as we say in Newfoundland, it is a sin to watch. It is a shame. They want to get out. They need this. And we want their young people to stay.
I would implore the people across the way in government: when they do their study, when they look at this, I implore them to look at the people of the community who want to stay in the community and build. What they mentioned in the budget was retraining. That goes a certain way, but first things first. Somebody who is 54 or 55 years of age does not want to go back to be an aeronautical engineer. That person wants his or her children to do it, but the children are in Alberta or Ontario. No offence to said provinces, but I need to--