Mr. Speaker, whether the topic is employment insurance or reduction in spending to achieve efficient service, the opposition keeps getting tangled up in urban legends.
Allow me to repeat a point. One of the great resources of this country is its efficient, effective public service. I am proud to lead a department with the majority of its employees located in Charlottetown. It is a proven model of decentralized management. I can assure the House that we take care to see that our public servants are treated well. In the coming years, through the natural process of attrition, a number of them will retire. That is part of our forecast reduction in spending.
As for employment insurance and Service Canada, Prince Edward Island has a number of Service Canada offices, and veterans can also access these services. We believe that the various departments of the government should not work separately, but should work together. That is why Service Canada is able to offer front-line services to veterans in more than 600 locations across the country.