Madam Chair, poverty and vulnerability affect people of all ages, and that is why a social program was introduced to provide an old age security pension. For many women and many people, it is their sole source of pension income. I understand from the reply that this discrimination will remain, which is a first and sets a precedent.
With respect to employment insurance, members will recall all the measures implemented to support nine million workers who found themselves unemployed overnight. Emergency measures had to be put in place because the EI system was not fulfilling its role, as the former governor of the Bank of Canada, who is highly respected, told the Standing Committee on Finance. The President of the Treasury Board himself admitted last spring that the reform of the system had been delayed too long for it to meet the challenge.
In the last Parliament, the Liberal government pledged to reform the EI program. This budget, however, only extends the temporary measures until September 2021, and adds an eligibility criterion that is welcome because it is reasonable, but only for a period of one year. As the witnesses who appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance stated, there are many gaps and the pandemic is not over.
Can you assure us that if you keep this temporary framework for a year, you will be open to the idea of fixing the remaining gaps to properly protect workers affected by the pandemic? I am thinking of the seasonal industries and the tourism sector, whose workers need support now not tomorrow, and who are currently being ignored.
Would the minister and her government be open to improving what is currently in Bill C-30?