Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, according to your recent update the EI account will move back to balance in 2015, instead of the previously predicted 2016.
You had promised to set the EI rate at a break-even level once the account was balanced, but Bill C-4 actually freezes EI premiums at an artificially high rate until the end of 2016. That will result in $5.6 billion more in payroll tax than what is required to pay out the benefits during that period.
You've called EI premiums a job-killing payroll tax. The recovery is a tenuous one. Why don't you let the EI rates fall in 2016, instead of keeping them higher into 2017?