Mr. Speaker, I am on my feet tonight on a question on EI changes which I asked the minister before the House rose for the summer. As you know, Mr. Speaker, our party has led the cause and the fight on that.
Basically the government changed the EI eligibility rules in the western part of New Brunswick and other parts of Canada. The government changed the rules where people would have to work 595 hours instead of 420 hours. In other words they would have to work an extra month to qualify for benefits. Many people would not qualify for benefits because in my part of the country there has been a downturn in the fisheries, in tourism and even in agriculture this year. If they did qualify, they would have received benefits for 18 weeks and not 28 weeks, which would mean that come winter, most people would have no benefits at all.
Our caucus fought it and about a week ago the minister admitted that the government had made a mistake and changed it back to the old rules. The only reason the government did that was that we fought it right here on the floor of the House of Commons. The government took a position it could not sustain. It could not live with the decision it made to go to a new set of rules.
The fight is not over. The government wants to gradually implement changes within a four year period and go back to the draconian changes which we were successful in overturning.
A number of things could happen between now and that time. One would hopefully be a change in government. If that does not happen, there is no question we are going to have a change in the ministry. The minister proved on the floor of the House of Commons that she does not understand the rest of Canada. Let us assume she does understand industrialized Ontario but she certainly does not understand Atlantic Canada and resource based economies and seasonal workers.
The government was punishing seasonal workers. Where were the members of the reform party, the Canadian Alliance Party, on this? They could not be heard. They never showed up in southern New Brunswick or in any other part of the country to defend seasonal workers, the poorest of all workers.
We fought this with reason and well argued positions. I called a public meeting in my riding. We were successful in bringing all the politicians, regardless of political stripe, into the same room. All the provincial MLAs who represented the people in my riding of New Brunswick Southwest came. We brought employers and employees into that public meeting. All of us were in the same room with officials from the department. Believe it or not, the minister herself did not show, but the message was clear that neither she nor her department understands seasonal workers and the importance of a seasonal workforce.
I want to publicly thank everyone who came out to help me on that issue. I want to thank the MLAs, the mayors, the councillors, the employers and the employees. It shows what people can do when they all sing from the same song book. It shows what governments are forced to do when they make a mistake.
We will continue to raise these types of issues and debates here on the floor of the House of Commons where they should be raised.