Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good questions are being asked. I want to say that I take some exception to the fact that, even though the employment insurance program is supposed to protect workers in the event of job loss, they are struggling to accumulate enough hours to be eligible.
We're talking about seasonal workers here. Ms. Brassard, you are very familiar with their situation. As you said, it's not the workers who are seasonal; it's the industry and the jobs it provides that are seasonal. We rely on this industry to provide quality jobs to the people who live in the area.
We have to report this study back to the House, Ms. Brassard. In order for the situation to change and for the importance of the seasonal industry and its workers to be recognized once and for all, I'd like you to tell us what changes can and must be made to employment insurance, in the short term, so that situations like the ones workers are currently experiencing don't happen again.