To answer your question directly, sir, I would say no. It is not a waste of money to create this board; what it is, is a step in the right direction. There are a lot of things in this that need improvement. We have been battling the federal government on this for 15 years, to change what we have now. The status quo is not something we can live with. So let's take a step in some direction!
We want to improve Bill C-50 to have some power. But as my colleagues said, this board has to have something to do, there have to be employer and union representatives. If we start with that, we intend to fight to improve it, so that one day we will be managing the employment insurance fund together with employers. At present, we will take what improvements we can get.
To answer the member who spoke before, I would say that since the Conservative government has been in power at the federal level, the accumulated surplus isn't $2 billion, it is $5 billion or even a little more.