Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Human Resources Development.
The unemployed will be severely affected by cuts of at least $1.5 billion in the unemployment insurance plan as of next year. Quebec alone stands to absorb more than $600 million worth of cuts. These will be felt particularly in regions with a high proportion of seasonal workers, whose benefits will be reduced, since from now on they will be treated as second class unemployed workers.
Does the minister realize that by making Quebec alone absorb $600 million in cuts in unemployment insurance, he is practically putting whole regions like the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the North Shore, the Gaspé and the Saint-Maurice area on welfare?