Mr. Speaker, people are being forced to turn to social assistance because their EI is running out. The numbers speak for themselves. Welfare rates are up 47% in Alberta, 43% in British Columbia and 26% in Ontario, and welfare does not even get them half way to the poverty line. They are forced to exhaust their savings and sell what they have in order to get any help. Welfare is paid by the provinces and, in some cases, even by the municipalities, not by the federal government.
Why is the government shirking its responsibility to help out when people are falling into poverty?