Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Chambly—Borduas for his remarks and his almost timid support. I say that because I feel the Bloc Québécois's reaction to our motion is unfortunate.
I do not know if this member or the other members of the House remember, but not so long ago, I introduced a bill in the House proposing 15 amendments to EI. Unfortunately, the Liberals and the Conservatives voted against it.
Today's motion seeks to obtain at least $20 million to assist and bring relief to people in regions where they have to work 12 weeks in order to qualify for EI and where the divisor of 14 applies, thereby reducing their benefits.
I would have preferred to hear the Bloc congratulating the NDP for this measure. If it is so bad, if we have brought shame on the workers or if we are not defending them adequately, the Bloc Québécois will have the opportunity to do better by presenting its own motion. I invite him to make the motion he truly wants to submit to the House. I guarantee that we will vote in favour of such a motion.
It is not that I disapprove of what the Bloc member has said. Yes, the motion does not go far enough. On the other hand, we want to try to do at least something for the workers of Quebec's north shore,Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands, the workers of Caraquet and Shippagan, New Brunswick, and the workers of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Liberals will vote against the motion, as the minister announced this morning. This is proof of their lack of concern about employment insurance. The Liberals are even saying no to the little we had in mind. I am proud to be able to show the workers just how unwilling the Liberals are to support them.
Our motion was not comparable to the bill I had proposed, with 15 changes. The Liberals rejected it, claiming it was overly ambitious. So I proposed the most minimal change possible that would still help the workers of Gaspé, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, and in all other parts of the country where the unemployment rate is such that people would have to work only 12 weeks to be eligible for EI. That is what I have presented.
That was my comment. Today I would like to see the Bloc Québécois join forces with the NDP instead of criticizing them. They have announced their intention to vote in favour of the motion. If we have done such a bad job, then tomorrow in its opposition day the Bloc will be able to introduce a motion in favour of workers, whom it claims to support. I am issuing the challenge to the Bloc to present a motion on employment insurance in support of the workers it claims to be such a staunch supporter of.