Thank you, Madam Chair.
First, I would like to thank the minister and Ms. Beckton for being here today.
Madam Minister, thank you for having accepted our invitation and for responding to it so quickly. We are going to enjoy this little chat. I am more comfortable with social, community and people issues than with figures and accounting. As I listened to your presentation, I felt all the hope and the optimism in your words. Everyone is fine, everyone is nice, everything is going very well here in Canada. I would love to be able to have that same feeling, but I find it difficult. I would love for you to look me in the eye and explain that it is so, especially at the moment, when a serious crisis is affecting not only Canada but the entire world. Even before the crisis, in my opinion, women had always suffered more discrimination in the programs available to them. The fact is that more women than men will be affected by this crisis. Could you tell me how you see the current crisis? What leads you to say that there is equality between the sexes? That is your position; it is your wish. Personally, I do not see the day when what you are suggesting to us today is going to happen.
Please, make your best case and try to convince me. Women are affected, more and more so. Take a specific example: Employment Insurance. You may be providing unemployed men and women with five more weeks, but if they are not eligible to start with, they are no better off. We know that only 33% of women are eligible for the current program, as opposed to 44% of men. The five weeks may be meant as a present, but what good is it for women if they are not eligible? I find that the whole situation is difficult, but it is more difficult for women.
You travelled around meeting women's groups. Tell me specifically what their concerns were. What did they tell you?