Mr. Speaker, the hon. member in his comments made reference to the many suggestions received by his constituents prior to the budget. The hon. member who spoke before him made the same comment. I certainly want to commend them on that very important aspect of a parliamentarian's work, that is, consulting with constituents and getting that kind of input.
I notice that certain statistics were cited about jobs that were created. We all know that statistics can be interpreted and phrased in a way to say what we want them to say. I tend to look at what is really happening in the area.
When I look at my riding of Halifax West and in other parts of my province, I see industries closing down. The Volvo plant was shut down in Halifax which put many people out of work. In Cape Breton there is the Devco situation and the phasing out of the mine which is putting people out of work.
We end up with a vicious circle. People are out of work. I do not see in the budget any real commitment to have a plan to offset those kinds of disadvantages. We get a circle where people become unemployed and it is difficult for them to get EI because the criteria are much more strict than it used to be. It is difficult to get training. This perhaps leads to health problems, depression, family breakdown. We are right back to needing additional health care and additional services to carry on to meet the needs of the people who suffer from being unemployed. Any money that was put in to this great health budget is very quickly eaten up, to the point where we are worse off than we were before if we do not tackle the industry problems and those kinds of issues.
I ask the hon. member, what is being done? What concrete measures have been taken to offset the kinds of problems I cited that lead to unemployment and a downturn in the economy in my area?