Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate my colleague on his speech, and secondly, to ask him how he sees the situation of the surplus in the employment insurance fund. We know about the increasingly numerous and complex eligibility criteria that must be met by those who have the misfortune to lose their jobs.
Under the old scheme, up to 65% of those who lost their jobs could collect unemployment insurance benefits. Today, it seems this figure has dropped to about 35%, the obvious result being a surplus of around $10 to $12 billion in the unemployment, or, as it is now called, employment insurance fund.
I would like to hear my colleague's views on what should be done with this large amount of money, which comes solely from taxpayers and companies, and not from the government. If he were the Minister of Finance, how would he go about using this $10 to $12 billion to revitalize the economy?