Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from members of the Public and Private Workers of Canada and from the United Steelworkers from the recently closed Chemainus pulp and paper mill.
The petitioners note that hundreds of Vancouver Island forestry workers laid off since March 2025 are among the thousands from British Columbia. They note also that the extra 20 weeks of EI that was announced in June 2025 was not applied equally to them and expired in April 2026. The petitioners also note that the $50-million workers support fund announced in August 2025 has still not been released in British Columbia.
Petitioners are asking the government to approve that the B.C. labour market development agreements with the federal government be released immediately, and to extend EI extensions until April 2027 so they may be applied equally to all the laid-off workers from that facility in my riding.