Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question.
One very important change, as the member knows, is that we have shifted the basis of eligibility to hours. That will be of substantial benefit to seasonal workers. It will mean that many seasonal workers qualify much sooner for benefits than they can now and that many seasonal workers can extend their benefits much further. In other words they will be able to extend their weeks.
To give a working example, today with the new system 45,000 additional seasonal workers who are not eligible under the present system and who now pay premiums could become eligible under the new system. More important, 270,000 seasonal workers today would be able to extend their benefits a minimum of an additional two weeks beyond that which they have now under the old system. In other words, they could establish their claim earlier and have their claim last longer because we are recognizing and giving them full credit for all the work they do.