One of the things that has surprised me about these changes, and the response to them, is that I'm not hearing simply from the workers who draw on EI seasonally because they're in seasonal industries. The people I'm hearing from are the business owners, who are incredibly concerned about the capacity for their businesses to survive with these changes.
I'm hearing from individuals like David Ganong of Ganong chocolates, as an example, from St. Stephen, New Brunswick. I'm hearing from people in manufacturing, and of course the seasonal industries: forestry, fisheries, and farming. I'm hearing from the tourism industry.
I spoke with Dennis Campbell, at Ambassatours, who told me that in his business the seasonal benefits from EI enable him to have access to people who are trained well, who return on an annual basis, who are part of his company's professional team and enable his business to be competitive. These will have significant impacts.
I'm also hearing from business owners who say they are expressing their concerns to the CFIB. We also heard from the CFIB, at committee, that they are hearing from members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business who are in disagreement with the position of the CFIB.
Finally, we don't know yet on a granular basis what the impact will be on people and what the criteria of “personal situation” will be. Rural communities and places like the Maritimes or northern Ontario—rural communities across Canada—are struggling to survive.
Mr. Jean is disagreeing with me, but I represent a rural riding—