Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the time today.
Minister Qualtrough, it's great to have you back at committee.
Under the Employment Insurance Act, the government must set EI premium rates to generate just enough revenue to ensure that at the end of a seven-year period, EI revenues equal EI expenses. By law, every dollar paid out of EI must be recouped through EI premiums within seven years.
The government has not indicated, in its fall economic statement or elsewhere, whether it plans to address the projected shortfall of $52 billion through either higher premium rates, reduced benefits, or through payments from the consolidated revenue fund.
Would you be able to answer that question today? When can we expect the government's plan?