Madam Speaker, I heard my government colleague say that she is proud of this economic update.
I was not proud when I presented this update to my constituents. There are seasonal workers in my riding, and on September 24, the government announced that, in the Lower St. Lawrence area, the number of insurable hours required to qualify for EI would increase from 420 to 700, even though EI benefits are paid for with the premiums deducted from these workers' wages. Obviously, by then, they had run out of time to work more and accumulate enough hours.
We expected that there would at least be something in the economic update to help these workers who are being left behind, despite being promised EI reform since 2015.
I am wondering what my colleague would say on behalf of the government to these seasonal workers in the Lower St. Lawrence area.