Mr. Speaker, I shall try to be brief, since I know my colleague for Matapédia-Matane would also like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans a question.
The parliamentary secretary spoke of fisheries and of the impact of the budget. I would like to draw his attention to the following: it is the victims of lack of work, the unemployed, who have made it possible for the government to have a lower deficit. My proof: the President of Treasury Board has proudly announced that the unemployment insurance fund now has a surplus of $12.3 billion.
I see nothing in the budget about returning a portion of the profits to the victims of lack of work. And because he is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I wish to ask him a question.
With the modifications made to employment insurance, virtually all fish plant workers will find themselves without an unemployment insurance cheque for three months, during the winter. There is still be time for the Liberals across the way to amend the budget, to make an addition to it so as to ensure that fish plant workers do not end up going three months without an unemployment insurance cheque. Does he realize how hard it is to fish the Gulf of St. Lawrence when it is iced over?