Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government in the past looked at fiscal responsibility. What it did with its goal of saving money and redirecting expenditures to its own priorities was to create a system that did not meet the needs of all Canadians. In fact, we know that over 60% of working Canadians who pay into the insurance program are not covered.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, that gives me an opportunity to once again indicate that, yes, we support much of the motion that the NDP presented, but I must point out that it was this Liberal government that ran on EI reform, not the members across the way. In fact, it was their decision to argue that they would balance the budget, which would have meant reducing supports for workers, reducing supports for the middle class, and actually seeing even higher unemployment.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the use of EI funds for other purposes, which was illustrated by the Conservatives in 2010, I believe, to actually backdate part of the huge debt incurred through those measures, was a very tough time and in fact emergency measures were needed, but dipping into the EI fund to pay for them was questionable at best.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, as we committed in the platform and as we committed to Canadians, the goal of the EI system, with the payments that workers and businesses make, is to support a platform that helps workers when they unfortunately lose their jobs. That is the purpose of the system.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the reforms to EI would ensure that more Canadians are able to access EI when they need it. We are committed to improving the EI program so that it is responsive to the needs of Canadian workers and employers, and also so that it meets our fiscal responsibilities to all Canadians.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the question gives me an opportunity to point out that this is a government that ran on a platform of job creation. We talked about the need to invest in the economy, to invest in infrastructure, to create those new jobs, and to help to redeploy those workers who unfortunately were laid off because of the commodity price depression that we are facing.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, this opposition motion gives me an opportunity to discuss Canada's employment social safety net and the urgent changes that are needed as well as to explain why we will oppose the motion. Any system wherein some regions of Canada 26% of workers are covered and in other areas 95% of workers are covered is a system that is not working.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, what is the position of my colleague on providing assistance to the areas hard hit by the commodity drop and what does she recommend for those people who are impacted in Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador?

Labour  Mr. Speaker, we want to clarify that Bill C-4 is here to reset a stage that is fair and balanced. Each individual collective bargaining unit can decide on its own system that it chooses to use, whether it is the card system or the voting system. The point of Bill C-4 is to bring fairness and balance, something that was missing because of the other side.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the serious situation facing those workers in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and different parts of the country. We are working hard to reform EI, which has been neglected and does not serve any Canadian, basically. More importantly, we want to ensure that Albertans and those who have been hit by the commodity crisis are dealt with fairly and honourably as soon as possible, and that is what we are working on at this time.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, yes, we are interested in hearing from Canadians on the best way to approach changes in EI. We are going from coast to coast to coast, listening to our own House of Commons committee, women, indigenous people, working Canadians, to find a solution that meets our needs as Canadians that are on the job.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, there has been no change in the rules regarding agricultural workers. We understand that there is an administrative backlog in Quebec and our staff are working hard to get rid of that backlog. Otherwise, there has been no change.

Labour  As I was saying, Mr. Speaker, the point is that there is a process that involves consultation and dialogue between trade unions and business, which has proven to be effective, efficient, and fair. The previous government chose to circumvent the process and make the system unbalanced.

Labour  Mr. Speaker, the point of the legislation is to reset the framework so that we have fairness and balance. In fact, the bill that the previous government presented included a framework that made unionization and decertification more difficult in a package that disrupted the fairness and balance of labour and industry relationships.

Labour  Mr. Speaker, what is undemocratic are bills that are brought in through the back door without proper consultation—