Madam Speaker, obviously, I mentioned earlier in my speech that the Conservative government has poorly targeted assistance that should have been given to the jobless. And I said that it would have helped to abolish the waiting period. When the Conservative members and ministers tell us they held consultations, I wonder whether they held those consultations in hotels, where they listened to people express their concerns.
I held some consultations of my own, but I did it in the street, and the people I listened to were people who go on employment insurance every year, people who lose their jobs periodically and others who have lost their jobs permanently because a company closed its doors.
People in Quebec tell us that what hurts the most is the two-week waiting period, when they have no income to support their family and pay their bills. Those two weeks hurt the most. Certainly, any measure that prevents an infusion of new money into the employment insurance system once again deprives individuals and families of adequate income that would help them weather a crisis while looking for a new job.