Mr. Speaker, I want to start by commending our colleagues from Victoria and Hamilton Mountain on the quality of their presentations and thank them for supporting the Bloc Québécois motion I introduced this morning.
Before putting a question myself, I will answer the question of our Conservative colleague. We are talking about $50 million the first year and $75 million in subsequent years out of a total budget of $16 billion. I had the opportunity to repeat these figures a few times this morning, and the minister should have them.
My question is for my hon. colleague from Hamilton Mountain. In Quebec, older workers who run out of EI end up on welfare. Not before having exhausted their assets, though. For example, a recipient who owns a house worth more than $80,000 will see his or her benefits reduced accordingly. This also applies to a small cottage. Property has to be sold and the proceeds used up before people can qualify for welfare benefits.
I would like my hon. colleague to tell we whether similar constraints exist in her province and whether getting support is as difficult there.
At the same time, I would like to point out to her that the funding that should normally be allocated to the POWA is being withheld by the federal government, and the provinces end up having to support these older people.