Mr. Céré and Mr. Laliberté, the NDP has 12 bills before the House of Commons: 360 hours, the 12 best weeks, and so forth. In June of 2005, when the previous government was in office, a motion was before the House of Commons concerning the 12 best weeks. The Liberals and the Conservatives voted against the motion at the time. There is nothing new here. EI reform began in 1986 when money was taken out of the fund and put in the general fund. They have continued to steal the money since then from the EI fund and to direct it to the general operating fund.
The largest cuts to EI came in 1996. I come from a region that posts the highest rate of unemployment, a region where fish plants and pulp and paper plants have ceased operations. The Caribou mine has also shut down. Many people in our region are seasonal workers. Would you agree that every time a positive change, however minor, has been made to EI, we have supported it? Before Mr. Céré says anything, I will concede that we voted against the 2009 budget.