We are not pitting one bill against another. We feel that it makes sense to extend the benefit period by five weeks. That was what was already done in the pilot project run in our riding and in many others. It would be possible to do with the current resources. Even though several billion dollars was taken from the $56 billion that had been set aside and that had come from workers, we still have enough money left to go ahead with this measure, without increasing premiums. If a decision is made to increase premiums, I quite agree with Mr. Céré that such an increase should be very small.
According to the Bloc's calculations, it would be realistic to set aside $1 billion for this year and $1.35 billion for 2010-2011, based on the increase in the number of people who will be unemployed. So we do have the money required to implement such a measure. We mustn't forget that by making this money available to the unemployed, we are also giving them a chance to survive, something that they don't have right now.
Bill C-50 applies to 6.3% of the unemployed. That number could go up to 15%, but it does not apply to all of the unemployed. This measure, however, applies to everyone who has lost their job.