First of all, I would like to thank you for being here to provide your testimony on this important bill. I have two questions for Mr. Pothier and Mr. Ducharme, who is also from the union, I believe.
You are a worker from Lebel-sur-Quévillon and a member of the union, Mr. Ducharme. I have two questions which relate to the way the rules apply during a labour dispute.
I also have a question for you, Mr. Céré, regarding eligibility for employment insurance.
Mr. Vellacott's comments earlier raised a matter of interpretation as regards the rights of the parties during a labour dispute. I myself have been involved in negotiations in the past, and unless things have changed, everything goes back to neutral—if I can put it that way—meaning that there is no advantage for either party and no contributions are made by either one for the duration of the dispute. Perhaps you could let me know whether that continues to be the case.
I am going to ask you my three questions so that you have time to answer. The other question—and Mr. Pothier has already partly answered this—has to do with the number of labour disputes. In order to be eligible for employment insurance at the end of the labour dispute—because it is only at the end that you are eligible for EI—there must have been a company closure or temporary layoffs. How many such labour disputes occur in Quebec? You work in labour relations, so I would be interested in knowing how many known cases could be affected by this legislation? Those two questions are addressed to you.
I will also put my question to Mr. Céré right away. Does this give a special advantage in terms of eligibility for employment insurance? Does it give special rights to certain workers in terms of eligibility during a labour dispute, or is it just a matter of applying the rules that already exist?