Madam Speaker, this allows me the opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding work of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in ensuring that those who need their benefits receive them as quickly as possible. I can assure the member of my full cooperation as these people are forced to face such hardship, in order to ensure that they receive their benefits as soon as possible. These are benefits they are entitled to and have paid into.
I am nevertheless surprised that my colleague would ask me a question about workers. Yesterday, this same member had the chance to rise in this House to support the measure, like the one I just mentioned, through which nearly $200 million would serve to extend work-sharing programs to keep Canadians employed. With a package of measures worth $8.3 billion for workers before the House, when he could have stood up to support those measures, how is it that he did not do as my government colleagues did, and that he chose not to support them?