Mr. Speaker, the extended benefit pilot project was meant to add five weeks of benefits in high unemployment areas, but Ontario has been left out. Unemployment in some parts of industrial Ontario has soared to over 11% and in the Niagara region it is now over 10%, yet the Conservatives refuse to extend EI benefits in Welland, St. Catharines, Oshawa or any part of Ontario.
When will the Conservatives wake up to the job crisis in Ontario and extend this program to all areas with high unemployment? Why are they ignoring the unemployment crisis in Ontario?