Mr. Speaker, I am glad to have the opportunity to reply to the claim made recently in the House by the hon. member for Malpeque. He stated that the changes made last year to the employment insurance program were making people poorer in Prince Edward Island. Nothing could be further from truth. I would ask that he stop making false accusations that are misleading and scaring the people of Prince Edward Island. In fact, the recent changes to employment insurance announced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans are actually increasing the amount of EI for rural islanders. I would call on the member opposite to join our party in support of these EI measures that support the rural parts of his province.
The broader changes we have made have made the program more flexible, more fair, and more responsive to the employment needs of people collecting EI. We did not change the eligibility requirements for EI. The rules for applying for and qualifying for employment insurance remain the same.
The changes simply ensure that claimants are given clear guidelines on the kind of work they need to consider when receiving EI benefits. In fact, we are supporting unemployed workers with information, jobs, and various measures to help them get back to work more quickly in their local area.
Our ultimate goal is to make it easier for job seekers and employers to find each other and connect, to make sure people have an opportunity to take jobs that are available in their region. This is why we introduced the connecting Canadians with available jobs initiative a year ago. Through this initiative, we introduced several new measures to provide employment insurance claimants with additional support. For example, the enhancement of the job alert system includes more timely and more relevant job postings and information about the job market in the claimant's local area.
The changes we made to EI also clarified the responsibility of claimants to look for work while receiving benefits. As long as workers meet all the regular requirements, including the requirement to seek employment, they will receive their benefits. It is that simple.
None of these changes is making people poorer. It is absolutely false to make those comments. Instead of trying to mislead the people of Prince Edward Island with baseless claims, I ask the hon. colleague to please stick to the facts.
For example, fewer than 1% of the people who were disqualified from EI since the changes were made over a year ago became ineligible because they failed to look for a job or refused to accept suitable work.
What is important to remember is that EI benefits will continue to be there for all Canadians, including people living in areas where jobs simply do not exist outside of seasonal and specialized industries.