Madam Speaker, the hon. member and I had a nice discussion yesterday. He told me that his home town is Wesleyville. I have friends from Wesleyville, so that was nice to hear.
To try to answer his question, I would like to point out what a previous member of his party, much before his time and my time in this place, the Hon. Jane Stewart, had to say about the two week waiting period. This is from Hansard:
The two week waiting period is like a deductible in an insurance program. It is there for a purpose.
Further, for people who have lost their jobs and are on employment insurance, we have extended five weeks on the back end in order to help them.
In addition, I would like to point out the great work that the people at Service Canada do to try to expedite all claims and all cases. Service Canada has hired additional staff and has recalled recent retirees to staff its call centres to try and expedite the claims as fast as possible.