Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by nearly 2,000 people calling on Parliament to support a bill that was numbered C-445, which I introduced during the previous Parliament with the support of the hon. member for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour. The purpose of the bill was to create a refundable tax credit for retirement income losses of 22%, for the victims of these substantial financial looses.
A number of retired employees of the Jeffrey mine in Asbestos in my riding and of Atlas Steels in Sorel-Tracy saw their retirement income drastically reduced after their former employer went bankrupt. Since February 2003, $55 million has been lost in retirement funds and $30 million in benefits for retired workers of the Jeffrey mine, while incomes have been reduced by between 28% and 58% since April 1, 2005, for retired workers of Atlas Steels.
As I present this petition, I can assure the House that my colleague and I remain committed to pursuing the fight to provide justice to the retired workers of the Atlas Steels facility and the Jeffrey mine in Asbestos.