Mr. Speaker, last month Maple Leaf Foods announced the closure of Larsen's plant in Berwick, Nova Scotia, leaving nearly 300 people out of work. Many of these workers have been at Larsen for over 20 years and some of them have never ever drawn EI benefits. The jobless numbers in this area are now worse than they were last year.
Will the minister extend the program for long-term workers so the people at Larsen, who paid into EI for years, can now get the full EI benefits they deserve?