We didn't say it necessarily had to be the EI account in every case. For example, in recommendation 7 we said:
The Committee recommends that the federal government develop a new program to insure against income losses due to long-term employment interruption that covers those who are not included under the Employment Insurance Act.
The problem is that while most of those people on employment insurance may have got some benefit from EI, particularly during this period of recession, the majority of the people unemployed in this country don't qualify for EI. Something needs to be done about them.
Again, we need them to work. It's costing us money. They go onto social assistance. It's costing them. It's costing us. We need to get these people working. So to us it's an investment. If you end up getting a job, you're contributing to the economy and you're paying taxes. That's far better than being on social assistance. If you look at the case, it's either/or. You're going to pay for it on social assistance, or you're going to put something into a program, which I would call an investment, to get these people jobs.