Mr. Speaker, I found my colleague's speech very interesting, especially the part where she spoke of an assistance program for older workers.
We are also in favour of providing assistance to individuals who wish to retrain or find another job. However, we must realize that this is not always a possibility. I will cite the example of a massive layoff in a one-industry town where even skilled young people do not have jobs. An older worker who has always worked in the same sector may not necessarily be able to find another job.
After exhausting their employment insurance benefits, workers find that they have to sell everything, their homes and their assets, for which they worked so hard. They have to sell what took them a lifetime to acquire and spend the rest of their working life on social assistance until they retire. That is a very sad lot for those who have fought their whole life to build Quebec and Canada.
In its first throne speech, the government had promised to put in place an assistance program for older workers, like the one that existed previously, but it did not do so.
Could my colleague talk about her reaction to the fact that the government makes promises but does not deliver the goods?
Is she even more concerned that now, not only has it not delivered the goods but it is no longer even promising them?