Mr. Speaker, today the steelworkers and aluminum workers union presented its official response to the federal government's defence in its dispute over discrimination against youth and women under the Employment Insurance Act.
What was the government's response? It avoided them saying that the applicants have no public interest in contesting the law.
It said that the surplus in the employment insurance fund does not belong to contributors.
It mocks pregnant women saying that its actions are not discriminatory, because pregnancy is a fact of nature, a contention contrary to the supreme court's decision in 1989. It continues to discriminate against young people.
The opposition to the changes to employment insurance comes from Force Jeunesse, la Coalition action-chômage, the CSN, the Quebec federation of labour, the Canadian Labour Congress and the thousands of workers that I met in my tour across Canada.
The consensus is clear. It is time the government assumed its responsibilities and changed employment insurance.