Mr. Speaker, my question is also addressed to the Minister of Human Resource Development.
In 1990, 87 per cent of unemployed Canadians were eligible for unemployment insurance. Two years ago the Liberals drove it down to 50 per cent. The CLC predicts that the latest announcement means that two-thirds of out of work Canadians will no longer be eligible for unemployment insurance, around the same level that exists in Mississippi.
How can the minister claim that this will benefit working Canadians? Surely they are trying to balance the deficit on the backs of out of work Canadians.