We support this amendment.
As was just said, of course the economy is still fragile. We still have persistently high unemployment, particularly among young people. There is global uncertainty, but let's not forget that the domestic economy is underperforming and we have a long way to go in terms of solid job creation and solid investment to get the economy back to where it should be.
The Conservatives have made a big fanfare about freezing EI premiums, but it should be noted that the cumulative deficit in the EI operating account only exists because successive Liberal and Conservative governments took the $57 billion that had accumulated from EI premiums that were paid by workers and employers, and that money ought to have been there to pay unemployed workers. We wouldn't have faced this deficit at any period if that money hadn't been plundered right before a major recession.
The old EI account had a surplus but that money was basically used to pay for other things like corporate tax cuts. What's happened as a result is workers and employers, yes those small businesses, those restaurant owners and businesses across the country, have had to pay higher premiums because that money was taken when it should have been there as a cushion for an economic downturn.
When the Conservatives started a new account, they started with a balance of zero. That $57 billion was gone and they started with a balance of zero right when we were going into a major recession. Let's be clear how we got to where we are. That money should have been there, but instead was basically used to balance the books and pay for tax cuts. Then we were faced with higher premiums at a time when the economy was in a downturn.
We support this; we generally support the freeze, but we also support a lower premium rate, if it's possible to be lower. Most of all we support having the premiums that workers and employers pay in a fund there for them to use when they need it most, when workers lose their jobs. What we don't support is a situation we have now where the vast majority of workers, when they do lose their jobs can't even get benefits at all. There are significant changes that should take place with EI.
Thank you.