Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I would like to talk briefly about this motion and its objective in the hope that by tomorrow's vote the Conservatives will have taken notice and will respect the wishes of workers and also of all communities, especially the regions, throughout Canada.
You will recall that the Program for Older Worker Adjustment was established in 1988. It provided eligible workers between 55 and 64 years of age, who had lost their jobs as a result of major, permanent layoffs, with benefits in order to bridge the gap between their employment insurance and old age pension. Unfortunately, the program ended in 1997.
POWA was a shared-cost program, 70% funded by the federal government and 30% by the participating provinces. Quebec has expressed an interest in participating in a new program if established. In 1996, 11,700 people were registered in the program after 900 layoffs.
Since the disappearance of the Program for Older Worker Adjustment, in March 1997, there have not been any more income support programs targeted specifically at older workers affected by mass layoffs or company closures. Recent government legislation simply added weeks of benefits for the unemployed.
It is a well-known fact, though, that age is a particular problem after job losses because employers are very reluctant to hire older people. This means that even though workers 55 years of age or more are generally less likely to be unemployed than young people, when they do find themselves unemployed, it is usually for a much longer time than the average. In its 2004 monitoring and assessment report, released in March 2005, the Employment Insurance Commission said this:
Although older workers enjoyed considerable employment growth in 2003-04 (5.8% unemployment rate), it is widely acknowledged that once unemployed, older workers may face challenges becoming re-employed. Older workers are over-represented among the long-term unemployed, representing 21.3% of this group and only 12.5% of the labour force.
The pilot projects created in response to the mass layoffs are aimed mainly at providing training for older workers who have been laid off. However, older workers do not participate very much in this kind of training, and measures like this are clearly inappropriate for them.
Here is what the four big central labour bodies have to say:
Studies have also shown that the older they are, the harder it is for workers to get training. Losing a job is much harder on older workers than on younger workers because the skills of older workers, who have not had access to training, are increasingly out of sync with the skills required by the current labour market.
The numbers speak volumes: workers over 55 years of age account for only 3.5% of participants in the regular skills development component, that is, training programs. Moreover, the Employment Insurance Commission has already recommended such a program. I would also remind the House that workers have been calling for this program to be reinstated since it was abolished in 1997.
I also want to point out that when POWA was around, it made a tremendous contribution to improving the lives of its participants. On February 15, 2005, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities released a report containing recommendation 13, which dealt with this issue. In addition, the Bloc passed a unanimous motion calling for a special program for older workers in the wake of multiple plant closures due to globalization. Furthermore, the House unanimously passed a subamendment to the 2006 Speech from the Throne recommending a similar measure.
I will close by saying that the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development talked about a feasibility study in the spring of 2006. We have not yet seen this study.
The Bloc also dedicated another opposition day to this issue, obtaining a 155 to 124 vote in favour of its motion.
I therefore urge all members of the House to vote in favour of this motion.