What an idiot. I am sorry, Mr. Speaker. What I meant to say is that the program I was making reference to is the EI program. Changes to the EI program took $20.8 million per year out of my riding, which would be comparable to a plant closure losing $20.8 million in payroll.
Obviously our first choice is to have opportunities for work for everyone. I can point to one thing that would point us in that direction. On the desk of the Minister of Finance right now is a duty remission order that he could sign that would extend the duty remission for garment manufacturers for a further seven years. I have 43 garment manufacturers in my riding and many of them do employ immigrants and aboriginal people who come into my riding looking for work, but they will topple like dominoes if the Minister of Finance does not sign the duty remission order because the garment industry needs that support while it transitions to the stresses of the new global marketplace.
I agree with him that jobs are the number one priority and that the best social program in the world is a job, but the Minister of Finance could help us in that regard in my area by signing that duty remission order ASAP.