Mr. Chairman, the hon. member did not give me a long question. I thought it was going to be a 55-minute lecture from the professor. I will be brief in my reply.
The unemployment insurance system is there to protect the unemployed. One of the methods used to protect the unemployed is to build a substantial surplus so that during the next recession, and there will be one some day as both the hon. member and I know, it will be unnecessary to raise the premium rates because there were insufficient funds. That is the reason for the cushion.
The hon. member mentioned revenues. On revenue increases I would refer to the fiscal plan, page 106. The total budget in revenues went up from $130.6 billion to $135 billion in 1995-96 and 1996-97; almost $4.6 billion. The unemployment insurance contributions went up 3 per cent. I would suggest to the hon. member that is considerably less than 10 per cent.