They were negotiated by McKenna, no question. The member is right. They were a good idea and I have no difficulty in saying that.
When I was in the provincial government, we maintained those agreements because it was the right thing to do. Every province in this country has a different situation. There are different challenges that each province has to meet. This is one of the challenges the province of New Brunswick has to meet and this is exactly what these agreements are in place for.
There is funding available. We heard the member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte mention tonight that there must be $1.5 billion in the fund for New Brunswick. Quite clearly, there is $245 million over two years included in the labour market development agreement.
Here is a revelation. Last year the province of New Brunswick was not able to use all of that funding. It is unbelievable. Yet, this year, it needs more.
I heard the member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte talk about how the federal government calls on the province to dip into those labour market development agreements to satisfy the concerns and issues facing the forestry sector. No, we have put in place programs specifically for the forestry sector. We have addressed issues with the forestry sector quite clearly.
This is a specific situation that these funds were put in place for. The $245 million over two years is specifically designed to address situations like this, but it goes beyond that. It goes much further than that.
There is funding in place for older workers. Funding has been put in place by our government to address the situation with older workers. There are many people in the industry who would qualify for that funding.
There is funding in place for specific agreements, such as EI benefits, to address this specific situation with the fishery and the province of New Brunswick is able to take advantage of that. There has been flexibility built into the EI programs to enable the province and the industry to take advantage of based on the situation and challenges as they arise.
My main point tonight is that we are in a position to work with the province of New Brunswick. I want people in need to receive that help, if only the province would step up, take advantage of it and use the funds for the intention they were designed for.