We are not the ones who said that. It was the Toronto Dominion Bank that calculated a cost of $1 billion if employment insurance eligibility is reduced to 360 hours.
I would like to go back to what we were talking about earlier. We believe that there was a huge surplus that the government unfortunately took away. If the government creates a real employment insurance fund, an independent account, which does not yet exist but is in the planning stages at the new board, and if it is funded adequately, there would eventually be a surplus. Then, during a recession or an economic crisis, even if it cost a little more to support unemployed workers, the government could still afford it.
Now, because the $57 million is gone and there is an economic crisis going on, the government says that there is no money left. However, these amounts are relatively small compared to the total Canadian budget.
We could get the money from employer and employee contributions, especially since the Conservatives have cut corporate income taxes significantly since coming to power—15% by 2011-2012. They could take the money they are saving on taxes and spend it on employment insurance contributions. That would improve the system and help the government deal with difficult situations like the one we are going through right now.