Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for being here this morning to inform us about how you understand the issues raised by the new board being put in place.
I want to get a clear understanding of the reasoning guiding you in adopting your position on the board. I'm afraid I don't really understand your reasoning on the use that should be made of the employment insurance fund with respect to the shortage of labour to fill available or future positions.
To illustrate my remarks, I'll cite the example of a restaurant owners' representative whom we heard in Saskatchewan during our employability study. She said that her restaurant owner colleagues and her were having trouble keeping their restaurants open all day because people's wages are low and they therefore have to occupy more than one position.
The best-paid jobs lure away the people who normally work in the restaurant business. I find it hard to understand how you can remedy that with employment insurance. These are people who want to work. The lady who came to testify didn't say that the employees were lazy. She said she didn't have any more staff because they went to work in Alberta or to occupy better-paid jobs.
You're saying that the big difficulty in filling positions is attributable to the mechanics of employment insurance. I don't understand your reasoning because it seems to me there's no connection.