Thank you, Mr. Chair. Congratulations on being re-elected chair.
Poverty is something that affects us all, and we must not put it off too long. It is my understanding that the bills have priority under the circumstances. Two bills are before us. We talked about Bill C-50, but there is also Bill C-241, which addresses the two weeks and the waiting period. It was held up at second reading by all of the opposition parties, which represents a larger number of members.
This bill also affects all those unfortunate enough to lose their jobs because they will be able to start receiving benefits as of the first week, rather than the third. Do the math. Bill C-241 helps more people quickly, whereas Bill C-50 is an exception bill that targets one region in relation to the industry of two specific regions.
I am not debating the substance, Mr. Chair, but the priority level that we give each one. We sincerely hope that Bill C-241 is studied first for recommendation to the House, and immediately afterwards, we can consider Bill C-50.
As for Bill C-50, we will of course recommend a certain number of witnesses who have been present throughout this debate since the bill was introduced a week ago. It would also be a good idea for officials to come and explain how they arrived at these figures: 190,000 unemployed workers affected and $935 million earmarked in the supplementary estimates. We will need some clarification on that. Everyone that we have met with so far, including the senior officials who made a presentation—which was supposed to last 30 minutes but ended up lasting a little over an hour—has admitted that they cannot tell us the method used to arrive at these numbers.
We are also going to ask representatives of the NDP to come and tell us how they arrived at a figure of $1 billion. We want that clarified as well. Their figure is higher than that of the Conservatives. Perhaps they will be able to convince us that the numbers are right. To get that kind of a figure, 85% of the people receiving employment insurance would have to use up all their benefit weeks, but only 25% actually do.
I do not want to debate the issue now, but I just want to be clear about the kinds of witnesses we should ask to appear before the committee.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.