My understanding is that the EI account still exists. It's integrated within the public accounts of Canada and there is interest credited to it. So it's true in that sense.
We know that most of the $57 billion in surplus was accumulated in the period from 1995 to 2002. To my mind, the best way would be to restate the public debt of Canada to show that it wasn't really reduced as shown in the overall government balance over that period, to free up the funds that way.