Mr. Speaker, the people of Quebec will long remember the start of 1998 when they poured all their energies into battling this terrible freezing rain storm. Everyone gave everything they could to help the disaster victims.
I would like to congratulate and to thank all the people of Quebec warmly for their solidarity and community spirit in such difficult circumstances.
However, there can only be criticism for the Minister of Human Resources Development, who kept people in a state of total confusion over their entitlement to employment insurance. Many were outraged to discover that they were not entitled to any compensation from the plan to which they had so long contributed.
I strongly urge this government to keep its promise to not further penalize those workers victimized by this terrible storm, who have already suffered enough as a result of it.