Ms. Diane St-Jacques (Shefford, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, today marks the start of a very important period for all of our fellow Canadians of the Jewish faith.

Today they are celebrating Rosh Hashanah.

The high holy days are governed by the lunar calendar, so they fall either in September or October. The ten-day period starts with Rosh Hashanah, which marks the start of the Jewish new year, and ends with the fast for Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

Canada's Jewish community is an important component of Canadian society.

On this important day, I take this opportunity in the House to express the heartfelt wish of all Canadians for peace at last in the Middle East.

Ms. Diane St-Jacques (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, even though we are aware of the importance of Canada Economic Development, its activities are managed by regional agencies such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. We have adopted a collaborative approach in order to ensure that the province and the regional economic councils properly understand the requirements of the program.

Ms. Diane St-Jacques (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member from the Bloc Quebecois for her question. This gives me the opportunity to inform the House that the report in question continues to track various factors not always related to workers, such as students and people who were self-employed. The facts do not reflect the reality, since according to the monitoring and assessment reports, nearly 90% of individuals losing their jobs would be eligible for employment insurance benefits.

Ms. Diane St-Jacques (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, the department's mandate is to enable people to acquire the necessary skills for their own economic and social development. Naturally, I would like to state clearly that the department is not reducing financing for the labour market partnership program. Rather, the issue is whether or not the program funds should be used to pay the salaries of Canada Economic Development officers.

Ms. Diane St-Jacques (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, a high number of women have had access, since the changes in 1996, to employment insurance. Statistically, 96% of women are entitled to employment insurance, compared to 95% of men. Some 55% of women working part time are eligible, compared to 41% of men working part time. This proves yet again that the changes we made to employment insurance are yielding results.