Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. I have a couple of questions about employment insurance.
EI is a benefit that most people hope they will never have to claim because it's designed to help transition someone when they face the catastrophe of job loss. Sadly, we are in a situation today when only about 40% of Canadians who are in the situation of unemployment are able to get these benefits.
I heard the first three witnesses today, Ms. Pohlmann, Ms. MacEwen, and Mr. Thomas, talk about the money that was shifted from EI premiums that were paid by individuals and employers to government use for general revenue. We had a bit of a discussion about this yesterday. Officials from the government said that this was just an accounting change and it did not mean this money was actually taken out of the EI fund.
I wonder if any of you would like to comment on that. I had a different perspective on it, but that's what the government officials told us.