Thank you for taking the time to be here.
I think I can say that everyone appreciates the work you do, and the work your organizations do.
This issue has to do with definitions. It's not an unemployment benefit. It's unemployment or employment insurance. When people insure, it's because there's a risk of losing their job or having their house burn down. But if you go and burn your own house down, you're not going to collect the insurance, right? Therefore, they're not eligible. They're entitled to the benefit, but there is some eligibility for the benefit, and this is strictly stated in the act. You have to be available for employment. It's basic. Unfortunately, they're not available for employment.
People talk about somebody collecting employment insurance from down in Mexico on holidays, and they're cheating the system. They are—they're not available for employment. That's how they're cheating the system. Those who are incarcerated, unfortunately, have made a decision and they have ended up not being available for employment.
I see where you're coming from—you're compassionate about the people. You want to make sure that they have the ability, when they leave, to have some dollars to take care of themselves, and I understand that. But this is a system called “insurance”, and we must respect that.