Mr. Speaker, we need to reclaim the spirit that existed in the early nineties when the federal and provincial governments came together with the unions, the communities and the leaders to negotiate deals to restructure Algoma Steel, St. Marys Paper, the Algoma Central Railway in Sault Ste. Maria, Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company in Kapuskasing, Bombardier and Provincial Papers in Thunder Bay, the Atikokan Forest Products Ltd. and Proboard Ltd. in Sapawe, Ontario and 21 other sawmills across the north where the banks had pulled their lines of credit.
The provincial government of the day passed worker ownership legislation to permit the people of Kapuskasing to invest in their mill and in their future. At that time, as well, the provincial government had the political will to maximize the resources of Ontario Hydro to help both Elliot Lake and Kapuskasing manage difficult change and went on to further expand the role and mandate of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation so that it could really respond to those companies in need.
What I am saying is that we do not need anyone to tell us, those communities and those areas of the country that are struggling because of this forestry crisis that we are in, that it cannot be done. It can been done. It has been done before and we can do it again.