Mr. Speaker, if I understood correctly, the member is saying that the government had the lead taken out of gas. There is no longer any lead in gas, but the government is acting like a duck hit by lead shot. The Prime Minister had a golden opportunity with the Speech from the Throne.
The member mentioned poverty. The $6 billion the government grabs each year from the employment insurance fund is not returned to the regional economy, it is not paid out to poor families. If there are poor children in Canada, it is because there are poor families. We know that the government slashed the budget for social housing.
There the government had the perfect opportunity to give those $43 billion grabbed from the EI fund back to seasonal workers, to the unemployed in Charlevoix and other ridings in Quebec, and to students.
Students who work during the summer pay employment insurance, and we know they will never be eligible for the benefits. The Speech from the Throne would have been an excellent opportunity for the government to do the right thing once and for all.