Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to wish everyone in my riding of Berthier—Maskinongé happy holidays.
I listened to my Conservative colleague and I have a question for him.
The government has a great deal of latitude in terms of the budget. In fact, the federal government has posted huge surpluses for several years. Recently, cuts were made to programs supporting the illiterate, women, minority language rights and rights pertaining to court challenges.
For some time, the Bloc Québécois has also been asking for an assistance program for older workers. We are quite simply asking the Canadian government for a measure that could be implemented across Canada. It would cost about $70 million to help older workers just by altering the employment insurance plan. This government has slashed social programs in the last little while.
I would like to know why is the government attacking the most disadvantaged in our society when it has such a large surplus?