Mr. Speaker, the Conservative budget will not protect the most vulnerable, will not safeguard jobs today and will not create the new jobs of tomorrow.
The budget contains $60 of corporate tax cuts for every dollar to help the unemployed. In my riding of Nanaimo--Cowichan, people were hoping for much more. They know that it is their neighbours who help our local economy thrive, not bankers on Bay Street.
In recent years, six in ten unemployed men and seven in ten unemployed women failed to qualify for any benefits, even though they paid EI premiums. The rates for employment insurance are tied to the Vancouver labour market so our unemployed workers needed the maximum number of hours to qualify for EI.
Records at the Service Canada office in Duncan show that 600 more people applied for EI in the last quarter of 2008 than the year before. My constituents wanted the two week waiting period for EI benefits dropped so their neighbours would not need to wait for money and depend upon food banks to feed their families. They wanted the number of hours needed to qualify for EI reduced so more neighbours would receive EI and stop worrying about not making mortgage payments.
The budget does not work for the most vulnerable Canadians.