Mr. Speaker, the minister must be out to lunch. Today he will probably find out that a major union in this country is pursuing this government, that it is bringing the government to court over the abuse of the EI system in using it for the purpose of reducing the deficit.
Since this government seems to be encouraging further increases in interest rates, is it really saying to Canadians that even if the unemployment rate were at 8% that it is okay to have well over a million Canadians out of work. It is fine with this Liberal government. As long as it meets its deficit numbers it does not actually care whether there are more poor children, whether there are people out of work, or whether we have a lower standard of living.