Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In March of this year, this Legislature passed a motion in support of pension entitlements due to former Giant Mine workers. The federal government acknowledged this message through both the Prime Minister's Office and the Minister responsible for Indian Affairs and Northern Development. While our message has been delivered to the federal government, unfortunately to date, a workable solution has not been found to resolve the issue of pensions and the funds necessary to offset the deficit in the pension fund for approximately 100 former workers.
The federal government, Mr. Speaker, needs to continue to seek ways so that the pensions for retired Giant Mine workers are topped up, so that workers who have toiled for so many years are able to enjoy the retirement they have negotiated and deserve.
Having given federal support for the laid-off Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO) coal miners in the form of early retirement and severance packages, the federal government needs to reconsider its assistance for former Giant Mine workers. Substantial royalties and taxes were received from Giant Mine through its operating life. While there may be no legal obligation under existing bankruptcy or pension legislation, the federal government should do the right thing and look at how it might provide a supplementary or ex gratia payment to enable the pension fund to be topped up and meet the moral, if not the legal, obligations to former Giant Mine workers.
On the legislative front, Mr. Speaker, we must continue to press for changes in the Federal Pension Standards Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to ensure we never again find ourselves in this situation, and to ensure that workers' rights are better protected in the future. Within our legislative competence, and possibly the Fair Practices Act, we must look at ways to alleviate such situations here in our own backyard.
Mr. Speaker, there are many lessons to be learned from the Giant Mine legacy -- economic, social and environmental. It is our duty to continue to press for the rightful payment to Giant Mine pensioners and to prevent this situation from ever happening again to territorial citizens. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.