Thank you for being brief. I don't think we will agree on that. You know what I am talking about and once again you are passing the burden on to the provinces. That is regrettable, but we will have an opportunity to come back to that.
Now let's talk about the new agency that will manage the Employment Insurance Account. You have provided some clarification on that. You plan to maintain the Employment Insurance Commission and create an agency. The commission will ensure that benefits are paid in accordance with decisions made by the minister and will provide sound management. As for the agency, it will look after establishing premiums.
What troubles me a great deal is the clarification that you made when you said the agency's mandate will involve holding and investing any excess EI premiums from a given year until they are used to reduce premium rates in subsequent years.
Mr. Minister, don't you feel that it is irresponsible to say ahead of time that the employment insurance system will not be improved and that the board's only responsibility will be to manage premiums in order to reduce them? Can you clarify that for us? That statement is quite unsettling.