--the closing of a company in a small town. We're in a particular situation with the recession, and EI is designed ideally to be able to deal with different causes of unemployment. With the recession, which is temporary, where everybody is losing jobs and it's expected to be short-run, then we need equal protection for whoever is losing their job. Also, it has to be able to respond to more structural unemployment issues. In my region the fishery is collapsing, and it's not coming back, so you can't hang out waiting for the fishery to come back; you need to pursue other options. That's more of an adjustment issue. In terms of the different types of unemployment, there are different aspects of EI that perhaps need changing.
On the adjustment issue, if you need to get trained to get out of one line of work and into another, or if you need to move to get into that kind of policy, having all those programs, all those active employment measures, tied to EI eligibility can be problematic. If you aren't still in a position to be EI-eligible, you are not going to be able to access the kinds of training and adjustment programs that might enable you to change your location or your occupation, or whatever. That's one set of issues.
The other set of issues is more in a general response to more demand if there's unemployment like we have now. Then the eligibility rules will mean that some people will qualify and some people won't. That will play through the way the hours formula plays through. It will affect how long you can collect your benefits. My comments about the benefit formula itself will affect how much of your income is replaced during that period that you're on unemployment.