Mr. Speaker, when I listen to my colleague for Mercier, I note her rather amazing talent for painting a sombre picture of what the government has done, whereas these have been actions with concrete effects, extremely beneficial effects, for all of the people of Quebec and of Canada, and this is something my colleague for Mercier knows full well.
When they refer to employment insurance they refer to cuts, but I want to speak to you of basic reforms, reforms called for by everyone in this country, as well as a good many international organizations.
Employment insurance reform means that today people needing jobs can use this new program to gain access to tools, to means of acquiring additional skills for getting back into the work force. This is one of the elements, one of the goals of employment insurance reform.
With the change from a system based on weeks worked to one based on hours worked, employment insurance reform will provide coverage to thousands of men and women who work part time. They will be able to draw benefits, which they cannot at present. Before, as my colleague has said, the existing system was based on areas. It is true that, over the past 20 years, certain companies have closed down. The economy of the metropolitan region is changing, as it is everywhere in Canada, as well as in a good number of G-7 countries.
We have answered the call, we were present and accounted for when needed. We worked with the CDECs in the metropolitan region, those grassroots bodies which work together in collaboration. Think of RESO and the Corporation de développement Angus already referred to. These are approaches we will be continuing to use. They already have the means, means that could do with some fine tuning, and I would just ask them to focus their efforts on that.
Just think about the education issue, the tax agreements with the metropolitan region-two fundamental elements which come under their jurisdiction and where they have plenty to keep them busy.