Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Chambly—Borduas, who is also working hard to bring justice to those who deserve it, who are entitled to being treated with dignity and who are proud of the work they do.
I have had a chance to meet with these people a number of times and I continue to see, in their eyes and in their attitude, the pride of a job well done.
These people have worked for 30 or 40 years, primarily in the fishing industry. They may have started part time and ended up with a permanent job. The conditions are extremely harsh. There is intense humidity. Here in the Ottawa area it is humid, but at least it is a humidity that invites us to bask in the sun. But these people work for an industry, in a steel building that does not necessarily have much ventilation and they stand in water to do a routine job. This goes on for many years. They do this with sweat on their brow and not necessarily for a high salary.
After 30 or 35 years, not only do they have tendinitis or other ailments, but they find themselves in much more serious situations. These people look us straight in the eye and tell us with pride and honesty that they would like to be treated with dignity for what they have done.
We will have an opportunity to talk about that, but I think one way to bring them justice is to offer them an early retirement program. This is part of the other battles we are waging. We have to take action on a number of levels, but we must not forget that these people have worked for 30 or 35 years. They are now 55 or 60. Some are called Madeleine and others Yvonne. They are from the area, from the community, from Rivière-au-Renard or the Magdalen Islands. They are the ones we often see in pictures, the person full of pride and hard work, showing off the fruit of their labour. They say they would like to be treated with dignity one day. I think one way to treat them with dignity, after 30, 35 or 40 years of work, would be to offer them an early retirement program.
Nonetheless, we first have to stop the EI fund from being drained.
I will close by saying that, if we stop this drain, we may obtain one little drop of justice in an ocean of injustice.