Mr. Chair, our government is determined to protect every worker in our country. We have already put measures in place to do just that. We hope to protect every job. In the unfortunate event that job losses do occur, we have recently made adjustments to the EI system. For example, we have extended the waiver of the one-week waiting period for EI until April 2026. We have invested in people who want to change careers.
We are also here to protect businesses, to help them access liquidity so that there are no job losses. We want people to be able to keep their jobs. For example, there is the strategic response fund, which allows businesses to access liquidity in order to keep their operations going while we weather this turbulence.
I want to reiterate that in our negotiations for a renewed trade relationship with the United States, we do not want an agreement at any cost. We want an agreement that serves the interests of our businesses and our workers.