Mr. Speaker, let us have a look at the record and at the facts.
The Liberal Party has a shameful record of voting against help for Canadian workers. It voted against the 5 to 20 additional weeks of EI for long tenured workers. It voted against extending the enhanced work-sharing program. It voted against additional funding to help youth gain valuable work experience, the apprenticeship incentive grant and tool tax credit.
The Liberal Party complains about EI premiums and yet it and its Bloc-NDP coalition partners support bills calling for huge spending and premium increases, like the costly and irresponsible 45-day work year. The coalition's EI plan would cost an estimated $7 billion and result in an astronomical 35% permanent increase in premiums. The Liberal leader admits that it is fiscally irresponsible to do this but continues to support these ideas, as does his caucus. The Liberals are not responsible on this file.