I'll give you an example.
Right now, the premium rate is one of the lowest it's been in 40 years, at $1.58. In 2008-2009, during the last economic crisis, I clearly remember being on the radio with economists, right-wing economists, I must admit, from the Montreal Economic Institute. We were discussing the proposal by the Liberal leader at the time, Mr. Ignatieff, which was to establish a single eligibility requirement for employment insurance with 360 hours of work, to get through the crisis.
One economist was telling me that we couldn't do that, that it would cost too much, that it would change the premium rate, and so on.
I then asked the price of milk question, “Ma'am, do you know the current premium rate?”
She replied that it was $2.00 for workers. I told her it wasn't, and that I had the numbers in front of me. I had all the premium rates dating back to 1972 in front of me. The rate was $1.73 at the time. I said, “Ma'am, if you think that at $2.00 we're not doing so badly, but we shouldn't raise it, the 26-cent difference solves all the problems”.
The question of sickness benefits was raised several times earlier. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said that increasing the number of weeks of sickness benefits from 15 to 50 translates into a 6-cent increase in the workers' premium. In this case, that would be an increase from $1.58 to $1.64. Are people going to go jump off a bridge?