Mr. Speaker, I will have a question for the hon. member and I would like to know how he would square that.
This particular bill is aimed at long-tenured workers who have worked hard for long periods of time, have not relied on the EI system, find themselves in a vulnerable position, are not able to find work and their benefits are running out.
As Craig Riddell, a University of British Columbia professor and member of the Expert Panel on Older Workers said on October 8 that the University of British Columbia public affairs study on long-tenured workers found that these workers are hardest hit by unemployment and take up to 35% longer to find new employment than other workers. He recommended a targeted increase in EI benefits for long-tenured workers.
Almost a billion dollars is going to 190,000 people. How does the member square the fact that the member voted against second reading and potentially third reading and against every clause that would help 190,000 people? How does he stand up and say to any one of those 190,000 people that he is not supporting extra benefits for them because he would like extra benefits for someone else? How does the member square that? How does his party square that?