Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would also like to thank the two ministers for their presentations. We appreciate their presence here this morning and the opportunity to have them answer our questions.
Minister Finlay, I will begin with employment insurance. Your comments are made with the assumption that decisions will be in place by fall, because that is the time of year when votes are reviewed.
You are looking at a number of issues, including the Program for Older Worker Adjustment, or POWA, which provides income support for older people. In recent years, every time programs were announced, they turned out to be short, or temporary. Regions with high percentages of seasonal workers are in the same position.
Some people have very recently been in an extremely difficult situation, e.i. pilot project number 6 was extended at the very last minute. Where are we at with income support studies for older workers? Have you completed them? If so, what direction do you plan to take? This is a very important issue and a very pressing one.
The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, as it was formerly known, now the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, produced a report after some very comprehensive proceedings. The report comprised 28 recommendations on ways to reform the Employment Insurance Program, in accordance with the mandate given the committee by the House of Commons. Have you read the report? What do you plan to do about the recommendations it contains?
The Bloc Québécois introduced Bill C-269, which comprises a number of those recommendations, with the aim of restoring the Employment Insurance Program. Do you intend to support that bill?
It is very difficult to talk about reforming the EI system without talking about the use the government makes of the EI fund. You will agree with us that, in recent years, the government literally misappropriated some $50 billion from that fund. Benefits to the unemployed were reduced by way of restrictions, so that a surplus could be generated. Because of those restrictions, most unemployed workers find themselves unable to qualify for insurance employment benefits.
I will stop there for now, and I hope I receive very specific answers to each of my questions. Given that you are very familiar with the issues, I think the answers can be quite short.