Mr. Speaker, if the bill as it stands did what my colleague claims, I would be in agreement with him. But the facts
are otherwise. One could ask oneself whether he has really understood the proposed reform. Whether the thousands of people now protesting in Quebec, especially seasonal workers, and those adding their voices from the Atlantic provinces and Acadia, have all not understood what my colleague seems to have understood.
What is happening now is that those who work will have to contribute right from the first hour, but when it is time to draw benefits, they will have to have worked a certain number of hours to be eligible. I think that it was the Canadian Labour Congress-I will find the article for my hon. colleague-that recently did an exhaustive study of this question. It claimed that two thirds of Canadian workers-it did not look at Quebec, just Canada-two thirds of Canadian workers would not be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits as the bill now stands.
In fact, and that should give everyone an idea right away, there was a $5 billion surplus in this fund and it is being used to balance the government's books, when that amount does not belong to the government at all. It belongs to the workers and those who have contributed to it. This practically amounts to garnisheeing everybody's wages.
We will see if my colleague is right, to what extent people are happy over the coming months when the implementation of this reform begins to make itself felt. I am certain that he will be surprised to see the outcry of protests and the people appearing in his office to complain.