Mr. Speaker, the member for Waterloo—Wellington has spoken abundantly about the social union, justice and social equity. To that end, he dragged out the old response of his Prime Minister, who has said time and time again that Canada is the most beautiful, the greatest and the best country of the world, a country that offers the best social equity. But when he is not happy with his opponents, our Prime Minister grabs them by the neck and throws them down.
I would like to ask the member for Waterloo—Wellington what he answer he would give, about social equity for example, to one of my constituents, Louis-Philippe Roy, a former worker of the BC asbestos mine, who received his employment insurance benefits on his first application. He has served 15 times as a pallbearer. He was paid $22 each time.
Having worked on 15 occasions and earned $375, he saw his employment benefits reduced by $102 per week on his second application. Since he still had 17 weeks of eligibility, Louis-Philippe Roy has been penalised by its government, which brags about its sense of social equity, to the tune of $1,734 because he had earned $375 for having served 15 times as a pallbearer.
Do you intend to encourage people on employment insurance benefits to find work and get themselves out of that black hole? When I hear the good member for Waterloo—Wellington, I have the impression he is living in a bubble, that he is completely disconnected from the reality of those workers on employment insurance benefits. What has become of his sense of social equity?