Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party should remember that when we took over from the Conservatives the level of unemployment was 11.5 per cent. It is now at 9.4 per cent.
As far as the question of the employment insurance program, at that time the fund was in a very serious deficit of approximately $6 billion. As prudent administrators we want to build a surplus, but in the meantime we have managed to reduce the premium from $3.30
to $2.95. We are reducing the premium on a gradual basis. We have paid for the deficit which was established by the Tories. We are building a reserve because when it is an insurance scheme it is normal in business to have a reserve when there are better years.
That is exactly what we are doing. We are cleaning up the mess created by the Progressive Conservative Party.