Just for the record, I'd like to thank the Liberals for finally supporting the best 12 weeks. In June 2005, when we had a motion in the House of Commons on the best 12 weeks, they voted against it. I mean, they're coming along.
I'd like to thank Mr. Lake, my big brother, for helping us in the Atlantic by saying he's the saviour of the Atlantic and he thinks well of us and how we behave. But that's not how the family thinks. It's not how the women think, who call me and say they're missing their husband who's living out in Alberta and if he doesn't come back soon the family's going to separate. It's not how husbands think, who call and say, “If I go home I have to quit my employment, and if I don't go home I'm going to lose my marriage”. In life, people have to work. But they're still human beings, and we have to look at the effect on the person.
The idea of working, of moving some stuff from Alberta, maybe some jobs, to other places in the country, that's the great thing. We're working on that point. That's what it's all about. In the meantime, we cannot let the workers suffer. We need to develop these methods. That's how we will cut down on unemployment insurance, by training and changing things.
For example, if a person works in Alberta for three months, we could have a program that allows him to go home for a month, so that the employer could lay him off instead of saying he'd quit. You would be able to get your earnings and go back. Instead of working 10 weeks, he might work nine months, but he would have an opportunity to see his family and be able to tap into those companies that make good in some other places in the country. The way the program is, if you go, you're worse off than if you don't. That's why some don't go. They think that if they go, that's it, they'll lose their family or their earnings. Some base their decisions on that.
We could look at different things, but if a person loses his job he should qualify for this program. I think it's the responsibility of the government to work towards economic development. If there's growth in one place in the country, how could we move it to another place? I think things could be done in different places in the country. We've been working on it. We have endorsed a company that's fabricating stuff in New Brunswick and sending it out there. It has started to work that way. It's not the employment insurance that's going to force this. In the meantime, we have workers who are suffering. It's their program, not the government's program.
I'd like to thank my big brother from Alberta for the way he spoke. I thank you on behalf of all the Atlantic people and the people of the Gaspé coast. You people have good thoughts about us and we appreciate it.