I have a question for Mr. Sinclair.
As I imagine you know, in the government's latest budget document there are proposed substantial increases in employment insurance premiums, starting in 2011. These increases have a significant effect in terms of bringing the deficit down. Calculations by an economist, Dale Orr, suggest that the additional EI premiums will cost a two-earner family $1,200 and will cost a small firm employing 10 people an additional $9,000. I think those are large increases, and when employment may still be quite fragile, they could be damaging to the recovery of jobs.
There's a trade-off. I think we all believe EI should be balanced over the cycle, but this is a relatively short cycle. Achieving balance over a small number of years is giving rise to these very large EI premium hikes. The alternative would be to define the cycle as a few more years and have more moderate EI premium hikes.
Are you, as a Chamber of Commerce person, satisfied with these large EI premium hikes, or would you rather see it done more gradually?