Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Madam Ministers, thank you for being here.
I supported the bill at second reading. I think it's a piece of legislation that we need. In fact, I have met parents who wish they could have benefited from such a measure in the past. That being said, I did support the bill, and part of the reason was that I wanted it referred to this committee so we could make some amendments I consider important.
Minister Finley, you said that this measure delivers on your 2011 campaign promise to help the parents of missing, murdered or sick children. You also promised that the money for this benefit would come from the government's general revenues, not the EI fund. Yet here we see that the EI fund will be used to cover the cost of providing these benefits to the parents of critically ill children.
As we all know, the fund is currently in deficit because money was taken out to prop up the government's main budget. But that money was put there by employers and workers to build the social safety net people need when they are unemployed. By the way, I believe the program should still be referred to as the “unemployment insurance” system, instead of the “employment insurance” system, since the very reason it was created was to help unemployed workers.
You promised that the money would not come from the EI fund. And yet a huge chunk of money is being pulled out. Why the about-face?