I just think it would be a good idea to examine this program and the whole area of employment insurance, one of the department's largest budget components. It accounts for $16 or $17 billion annually. It would be useful for us to take a closer look at the EI account and discuss with you the potential social impact of diverting funds from this account.
I use the word “divert” without any hesitation. I suppose I could use a different word, but I find it quite appalling that over the past 10 or 12 years--and you even warned us about this--close to $50 billion has been diverted from the EI account.