Mr. Speaker, I am taking the time to follow up on a question I raised in the House. We feel that the response the government gave Canadians is absolutely pathetic.

As I recall, I was talking about a case in New Brunswick and who can or cannot be an employee of the public service. The parliamentary secretary responded that they had put forward employment insurance reforms to better connect Canadians with available jobs, which had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked.

Canadians expect their administrative tribunals to be just, fair and accessible, not a haven for defeated Conservative candidates and party donors who pocket fat salaries paid with taxpayers' hard-earned money.

However, instead of having an employment insurance system that is accessible and an appeal system that workers can trust, the Conservatives are completely destroying the legitimacy of appeal bodies by obviously stacking them with their best friends.

Among the candidates appointed so far to the Social Security Tribunal we have Valerie Parker, who donated $1,450 to the Conservative Party; Leroy Legere, a former MP and provincial Conservative minister in Nova Scotia; Pierre Lafontaine, a defeated Conservative candidate in Jeanne-Le Ber in the 2011 election; Jean-Philippe Payment, a defeated Conservative candidate in Terrebonne—Blainville in 2011; Claude Durand, a defeated candidate in Trois-Rivières in 2008, Alcide Boudreault, a defeated candidate in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord in 2004 and 2006; Shane Parker, who fought for the Conservative nomination in Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar in 2008; Kelley Sherwood, a Reform Party activist since 1997; Mr. Provo, a former provincial Conservative candidate in Nova Scotia during the 2006 and 2009 elections.

I could go on like that until the end of my speech, but I would run out of time. All these people are now working for a tidy figure somewhere in the neighbourhood of $100,000, courtesy of the Canadian taxpayers.

How can the minister explain the so-called merit on which these appointments to the Social Security Tribunal are based? We want justice for employment insurance claimants at a time when the training people are being asked to take has nothing to do with the work they are being asked to do.

Other than contributing to the Conservative Party coffers, what merit do these people have?

Anne-Marie Day

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