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House Hansard - 182

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 21, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie (Joliette, BQ)
  • Apr/21/23 10:11:30 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-47 
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. parliamentary secretary, with whom I have the pleasure and privilege of working on the Standing Committee on Finance. The Bloc Québécois was very concerned about one aspect of the most recent budget, and that is the employment insurance fund. We saw that the government was choosing to make contributors, workers and unemployed workers pay off the pandemic-related deficits. We are talking about $15 billion, in addition to $2 billion from last year. We can see from the budget implementation bill introduced yesterday that the government is electing not to do anything about that and to make workers and unemployed workers pay by taking a total of $17 billion out of their pockets for an insurance plan that does not work. How does my hon. colleague justify that decision?
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Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23
Mr. Terry Beech
  • Apr/21/23 10:12:33 a.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-47 
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question, and I also appreciate my colleague opposite. I would like to tell his constituents that we had a very elongated technical briefing on the BIA and he was the most active member in making sure he understood the over 400 pages that are involved in the act. When it comes to employment insurance, I think it is really important that all of us support this institution, which was so helpful over the course of the pandemic and continues to be helpful. We have taken care to make sure we are addressing some of the concerns with respect to EI in the BIA, in this document, but I would note that we have also extended employment insurance and some of the benefits that we had during the course of the pandemic through to 2024. At the same time, we are providing better services at a lower rate than when the Leader of the Opposition was in charge of the file.
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Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23
Mrs. Marilène Gill (Manicouagan, BQ)
  • Apr/21/23 12:45:55 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-47 
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. He is always smart and sensible. I would like to come back to the issue of employment insurance. The government is extending a pilot project that is not working at all and does not cover everyone. How much does my colleague think it would cost the government to provide this help to people working in the seasonal industry so that there is no longer a spring gap? I am having a hard time understanding this lack of political will.
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