Mr. Speaker, why should I recognize it? It is there. Yes, changes were made after we had to force the House by arguing almost every day for years. Regarding the changes the government has made, the money does not belong to the Minister of Finance. It belongs to the working people.
I remember a Liberal member of parliament in 1989, who is not here today but who was in opposition at the time, named Doug Young. The people of my riding chose to put him out the door. In 1989 he said he was asking all New Brunswickers to fight the Conservative government's proposed changes to EI because they would be a disaster for New Brunswick.
The changes the Liberal government has made are not enough. The government must bring down the number of hours from 910 to 350. Before it was 150 hours. The number must go down. The number of weeks must be prolonged.
I have said many times that we cannot catch codfish on Yonge Street in Toronto. We cannot catch lobster in Ottawa or get Christmas trees on St. Catherine Street in Montreal. We get them in places like ours, in the north of Ontario or in northern B.C. where people have to go and do that work. It is seasonal work. That money belongs to the working people.
You should not be proud that you have a $7 billion or $8 billion surplus every year, a $40 billion surplus that comes from working people who lost their jobs. How can your government be proud of that? I am not proud of it.