Madam Speaker, Bill C-17 is meant to implement several provisions of the budget but the main ones are those concerning unemployment insurance.
Even though several members spoke on the subject, I think that it is worth repeating the three main changes in the House. First is the increase in the number of weeks of work required to qualify for unemployment insurance. I stress this point first because, as the opposition critic for training and youth, it is clear that the future of our young people is my top priority. Now, one of the measures that will hit young Canadians who are excluded from the workforce the hardest is the increase in the number of work weeks needed to qualify for benefits. The first job that those young people can find is often precarious and very temporary and, in my opinion, the government's measure will hit them particularly hard.
The second change is the reduction in the number of benefit weeks according to the regional unemployment rate. That kind of attack began under the Tories, with Minister Valcourt, and continues with the present Minister of Human Resources Development, even though members of the present government condemned the Conservative policy. Today, the government wants to go even further by reducing the number of benefit weeks.
The third change is the decrease in the benefit rate, which once again goes in the same direction as the change brought about by the Conservative government, by lowering the rate from 57 per cent to 55 per cent of the salary previously earned. This will affect over 85 per cent of claimants.
I would now like to mention some statistics published in today's La Presse ; the source is none other than the Department of Human Resources Development. We learn that the changes brought about today will result in 44,000 people being deprived of UI benefits.
Is my time up, Mr. Speaker?