Mr. Speaker, what the official opposition feared has come to pass: the UI fund surplus accumulated over two years will reach $12 billion in 1998.
Instead of concrete assistance with job creation, the government is announcing only a ridiculous decrease in contributions, 10 cents,
10 months from now, thus continuing to pay off its deficit by taxing workers, employers and the unemployed.
My question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. Does the minister realize that this scandalous way of diverting money from the unemployment insurance fund totally compromises job creation and that, in addition, it will be stealing bread from the mouths of those already suffering from the scourge of unemployment, because the reform will be taking $1 billion in benefits away from them this year?