Human Resources committee  On that question, I would say that there is indeed a fairly broad consensus about the stimulus nature of employment insurance investments. The recipients tend to have what economists would note is a high propensity to consume. The money actually does--

Human Resources committee  Yes--the money flows into the economy. That's part of the rationale for including it in the stimulus package of the budget, in addition to dealing with the needs of the recipients. Above and beyond the general point of EI contributing a stimulus, there was no comparative analysis of which type of measure gives more stimulus, but there was a policy decision taken by the government to focus on the duration of benefits in providing workers with additional benefits to find their next job, essentially.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. Yes, there is indeed the type of churn in the labour market you're referring to. That's a factor here. As well, the operational implications of taking a large additional volume of claims for a potentially very short period of time is a consideration around the two-week waiting period.

Human Resources committee  The back-end payments pertain to people who are already on claim, so it's a longer duration for the same claimants, who would otherwise run out of their benefits.

Human Resources committee  I'll let my colleague Scott respond to that, but the reference to employment insurance is just a reference per se for the calculations of the wage earner protection program. Scott can speak to that.

Human Resources committee  I can respond to that question. I can't speak to any comparative analysis per se, but I would say that there was some work done, clearly, on the two-week waiting period, and one of the concerns was the operational impact that has on the organization. You mentioned the volume of claims that we're currently experiencing, and there are significant numbers of workers who obtain employment within that two-week period, and they would be adding to the volumes of the employment insurance system and further increasing the service pressures.

Human Resources committee  I wasn't there.

Human Resources committee  I'm going to turn to my colleague Liliane Binette for that question.

Human Resources committee  Yes, that is right, $30 million annually.

Human Resources committee  And labour.

Human Resources committee  I would have to ask the financial director in order to get a sense of what level of spending occurred.

Human Resources committee  It is not appropriate for me to talk about recommendations. The government's fiscal policy is a matter for the Department of Finance.

Human Resources committee  Without the premium-freezing measure, employment insurance revenue would total an additional $4.5 billion. So there is a lot more revenue to fund the system.

Human Resources committee  The purpose of the measure to maintain the current premium level is to avoid an increase which may have an impact on the economy.

Human Resources committee  The initiative was comprised of 90 projects, and the annual budget was $30 million. As I said, I will be able to get back to you with the current level of spending.