Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker,

WHEREAS the closure of Giant Mine has had a devastating effect on former employees and the City of Yellowknife;

AND WHEREAS Royal Oak Mines made no effort to be a responsible employer, and ensure that severance for all employees and pension entitlements for hourly employees were in place;

AND WHEREAS Royal Oak Mines under funded the workers' pension funds, which will result in a 25 percent cut to the retirees' pensions as of April 1, 2000;

AND WHEREAS this corporate pension under funding is permitted under the federal Pension Benefits Act;

AND WHEREAS a negotiated arrangement, in which a federal government department played a role by allowing these circumstances to continue;

AND WHEREAS the cuts to the pensions and severance payments for former Giant Mine workers will adversely affect these individuals, their families and the community as a whole;

AND WHEREAS federal legislation provides little or no relief for protection to the former employees of Giant Mine, or any other Canadian workers who are adversely affected by corporate closures and bankruptcies;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that this Legislative Assembly urges the Government of Canada to take immediate action to provide the full earned pension entitlement and severance due former employees and pensioners of Royal Oak Giant Mine, as of the date of the mine's closure.

AND FURTHER, that this Legislature request the Government of Canada to amend the Pension Benefits Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to protect the rights and interest of all Canadian workers, so that this unfair and unacceptable situation does not occur again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.