Mr. Speaker, the member can put all the rhetoric together he wants, but the fact is the ill-conceived, ill-advised 45-day work year is not something that will wash with Canadians. It only will result in increasing taxes, job-killing payroll taxes, something Canadians do not want, something Canadians do not need. In fact, it will kill jobs. As the Liberal member from Kings—Hants suggested, it is a bad way to go.
We have done a number of things such as increasing the benefits by five weeks and ensuring the maximum goes from 45 weeks to 50 weeks. We have taken steps to preserve jobs to ensure that they continue. For those who do not qualify for EI, we have ensured that they have the ability to receive job training, skills upgrading, something the member should get behind and support.
Rather than trying to realign the system on the back of an envelope in two or three days, the Liberals should get behind a reasoned approach to EI.