Mr. Speaker, I would like to use my speaking time today to come back to an important question that I asked the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development early last February.
Canadians learned last winter about the existence of quotas and that Service Canada investigators have to make monthly savings. Now we have learned a little bit more about the implementation of the changes to the Employment Insurance Act. What is happening now is that the rules have become so complicated and there are so many restrictions that they are mind-boggling. The worst thing about all this is that the new regulations that have to be followed are not clearly explained to workers who have lost their jobs. They are kept totally in the dark, apart from the publication of the regulations in the Canada Gazette on a Friday evening just before the House adjourns, as has become the Conservatives’ habit.
Basically, the regulations are hard for Canadians to understand and apply. The restrictions are such that only four out of 10 people in Canada are entitled to their employment insurance. The others are not entitled to it.
Does the minister think these figures are normal?
I am absolutely sure that Canadians would like to have more details about these notions of suitable employment and reasonable job search that have been changed. How many CVs do workers have to send out every day to avoid having their benefits cut? How will the 100-kilometre rule be applied? Can the minister tell workers what the real story is?
Rather than listening to the main people concerned with employment insurance, such as workers, employers and experts, the Conservatives prefer to stick with an ideology that flies in the face of Canadian values.
Our country is huge and is made up of resource regions with seasonal economies. The work available depends on this kind of economy, which predominates in the regions. The diversity of our economy benefits all Canadians, and our social safety net, which we contribute to as employees or as employers, should be available for Canadians when they lose their jobs.
A few days ago, on April 28, 2013, I took part in a huge demonstration in Montreal, and I heard horror stories about families stricken by poverty, forced relocations and employers who are losing their skilled workforce.
These demonstrations are happening right under our noses and under the minister’s nose, and they are spreading right across the country. The Atlantic provinces are now speaking out against the changes. Even New Brunswick, where a Conservative government is in power, is calling for moratorium while impact studies are carried out, studies which of course were never conducted when the changes were being made.
The question is simple. Workers want changes to the reform package now. What can the minister offer them?