Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Bill C-12.
It is amusing to hear the back and forth between the Bloc and Liberal members as they talk about the changes to unemployment insurance. It is particularly amusing to hear Bloc members complain about how much they will lose. I would ask them to consider how much they would lose if and when they decide to leave the country completely. It would certainly be a lot more than they could afford to give themselves considering the kind of financial shape they would be in on their own.
I will offer some constructive criticism of Bill C-12. People across the country are very concerned about the whole issue of employment, without a doubt. There is no question it is one of the most important issues in the country today. The government spoke about it during the election campaign when it promised to create jobs, jobs, jobs. It is a commitment Canadians are waiting for it to fulfil.
One of the main concerns we have with this legislation is that it goes in the wrong direction. Granted, it does not go as far as the previous legislation went in the wrong direction, but it is still going in the wrong direction. We have a concern about that.
We say that we should not treat unemployment insurance as a type of social program. Unfortunately, the current legislation does exactly that. We say that it is bad for the country. We say it is bad for employment prospects for people. We say it is bad because it does not give people the type of hope they need and deserve. We are very concerned about that.
It is time to change the complete direction of unemployment insurance, which I will discuss in more detail in a moment. I will talk about why we want to go to a different plan by looking at the history of unemployment insurance in this country.
Going back to 1971-72, that is when regionally extended benefits first came into being. I would argue it is not sheer coincidence that at the time those changes came in, unemployment began to creep up and up. Until about 1971 or at least the late sixties, Canada had about the same unemployment rate as the United States. It was very low, in the range of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent. Shortly after those benefits were introduced, those two unemployment rates began to diverge. The Canadian rate went much higher while the American rate stayed about the same.
As the finance department has borne out, my point is that quite obviously when there are rich benefits which essentially reward people for remaining idle, we should not be surprised if people respond to those incentives by becoming idle. Do not be surprised if they do not run out and look for a job. Do not be surprised if they stay somewhere where there is no work. For me that is absolutely sensible. I am not at all surprised it happens.
I do not think we should be surprised when we bring in timid measures, such as we have today, that it will not really have an appreciable effect on unemployment. In fact, I do not think this legislation is going to create jobs at all. I would argue that this legislation will kill jobs.
One of the concerns we have with this legislation is that premiums will have to be paid by part time workers. People who work less than 15 hours per week will be paying premiums, as will employers.
Consider that one of the biggest job killers in the country today, which the finance minister has said over an over again, is payroll taxes. There are going to be payroll taxes for the very people who are feeling the pinch the most, those trying to get into the workforce. Young Canadians and very often women who work part time are the ones who are going to have their jobs threatened because the government is insisting on bringing in premiums for part time workers.
The finance minister has said repeatedly: "That is a job killer, that is a job killer, that is a job killer". Of course it is going to kill jobs. Absolutely.