Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance and myself have said on a number of occasions that we are aware that through a series of events we are now moving to a surplus position in the EI account.
My hon. friend would know that a year ago, two years ago, three years ago quite the opposite was the situation. The last thing that the hon. member would want is to have a repeat situation of when we were in a recession with very high levels of unemployment and we were then faced with increases in the rate for premiums.
We are trying to make sure that we can set a level for a surplus in the EI fund that is consistent with the historical trends in that fund. We will be paying close attention to it.
I am sure that we will be able to satisfy the hon. member's concern about making sure that we have a sufficient reserve in the fund but also be able to address the whole question of payroll taxes, including premiums for employment insurance.