Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Dalton. I was born in 1962. When I was a young boy, my father worked in the mines in Chibougamau.

Official Languages committee  I think it was the Campbell mines.

Official Languages committee  It's been confirmed to me, as you say, that the foremen and members of management were anglophones. Spectacular accidents occurred in the mines in the 1960s. I think it was because of the language used, but lives could have been saved if everyone had understood each other. That's quite is a digression.

Official Languages committee  First of all, thank you, Ms. Ashton, for your kind words concerning the longshoremen and longshorewomen of the Port of Montreal. I'll say no more about that because it's not our topic for today. As for bilingualism, I'm a member of the Office québécois de la langue française, and we regularly see announcements for jobs in certain businesses that require applicants to be bilingual.

Official Languages committee  I'm going to let Mr. Grondin answer that question because he works closely with francization committees across Quebec.

Official Languages committee  Our colleagues from the Public Service Alliance probably told you as well that a large percentage of federal public servants who work in Gatineau, New Brunswick and other so-called bilingual regions feel uncomfortable speaking French at work. That's a problem.

Official Languages committee  I think I was quite clear on that point in my presentation. Only one language is actually threatened, and it's French. Recent surveys show that two out of three businesses on Montreal Island would like the people they hire to be bilingual. That alone is an indication of the situation.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Denis Bolduc. I am accompanied today by Gilles Grondin, francization advisor at the FTQ. Thank you for the invitation to speak with the members of this important committee on official languages. The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec is the largest union federation in Quebec.

Human Resources committee  If I may, I will make a quick comment. We are currently trying to reform the employment insurance program. We have been asking for that for a long time and it has been needed for a long time. Certainly, let's take advantage of this program review to also focus on the black hole problem.

Human Resources committee  We want people to feel secure when they are working. They are participating in a mutual insurance fund. So we want the number of insurable weeks and the benefits to be increased, and we want things to be easy. The health crisis has shown that the employment insurance program needs to be very flexible and easy to access.

Human Resources committee  Yes, the establishment of daycare services in Quebec was a way to improve, to facilitate, women's access to the labour market. I have often discussed it with colleagues from other provinces of Canada and it is clearly the envy of many outside Quebec. I encourage the federal government to establish a national daycare program similar to the one in Quebec.

Human Resources committee  Yes, that's more or less it, I feel. By establishing a hybrid eligibility standard of 420 hours worked, or 12 weeks of insurable employment, as well as basing it on which of the two is best for the recipients, I feel that we can indeed solve most of the problems. In recent years, we have expended a huge amount of energy looking for a solution to the famous employment insurance black hole in the regions, particularly by establishing pilot projects.

Human Resources committee  To be consistent with regular benefits, which we set at a maximum duration of 51 weeks, we would ask that sickness benefits be also set at 51 weeks instead of 15 weeks. The 15-week criterion has been in place for years.

Human Resources committee  It doesn't meet the needs of the increasing number of people who have to undergo lengthy treatments. There is also additional concern about the healthcare system becoming unbalanced during the pandemic. Care that people need is being delayed. We hear specialists say that their health status will be affected and it will probably deteriorate.

Human Resources committee  Yes. Clearly, we would not object if we went back to the standard in the 1970s, which was 66%, two-thirds of the salary.