Thank you, particularly for reading the motion again. I understand the urgency that Madame Deschamps feels on the EI issue. We're all hearing stories in our communities. I can't help thinking of the dislocation of the economic climate, as Mr. Shillington referred to it.
I'm also part of another group, Madam Chair, that is looking at EI and EI alternatives. There are a number of ways of changing the criteria to ensure greater accessibility to the EI program. I don't think we've heard them all here yet today in terms of how it benefits women.
We haven't looked at the regional discrepancies. We haven't looked at taking it down to a solid 360 hours. We haven't looked at the implications of turning it from hours to weeks. I'm particularly concerned about the regional discrepancies.
While I understand the urgency, and I, like Madam Mathyssen, am particularly concerned about the potential social unrest that is going to come in this country, I think it's premature to deal with this motion right away.
In speaking to it, I would say that I think it's important that very soon in the discussion we hear from the Minister of Human Resources.