Mr. Speaker, as the member should know, the employment insurance system has always been based on different regions, which dictates when people qualify for benefits and for how long they will receive them.
In every province there was a distinction made between urban and rural areas. In rural P.E.I., for example, the unemployment rate in some areas is twice what it is in Charlottetown. Finally, we have ended that aberration, that fundamental unfairness in the system. Now we have created regions in P.E.I. that recognize the radically different labour market realities between the rural and urban areas.
Prince Edward Islanders will benefit from these changes.