Mr. Speaker, if only we had somebody on this side of the House who was the minister of finance.
Last year the surplus in the EI fund started off as $7 billion in the first year of its overpayment and overcontributions. By the end of this fiscal year it is expected to be about $15 billion. With all the projections in sight it will get bigger. They are not saving up a rainy day slush fund. It is a tax, pure and simple.
If they are bringing in billions of dollars, $700 more per average working Canadian than what they should, what should the government do? Liberals should open up their ears and pay attention. They should be telling this to the finance minister. They should be pleading with him on behalf of their constituents. They should be asking for a payroll tax cut. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has talked about a 25% tax cut in the EI premiums because it creates jobs.
To quote their own finance department studies, when they increased EI premiums from a little over 3% to close to 5% it resulted in killing 26,000 jobs. It is expected by their own Department of Finance studies that this recent hike, these overcontributions, will kill 76,000 jobs.