Mr. Speaker, I know I speak next, but I am most anxious to ask a question of my colleague, the member for Lotbinière.
My colleague has, as it were, travelled across Canada with the Standing Committee on Finance, even though he himself sits on the public accounts committee. He has therefore heard some horror stories this fall, particularly in the maritimes and eastern Quebec.
I am sure that, when he was there, my colleague heard the stories of fishermen and the problems they are having with EI. I will tell one of his stories.
People on TAGS have been saddled with a new two-tier system. When they reach an income level of $26,000, they must pay back all the EI they have received.
This government wants to encourage people to get out and work. Imagine that you are a fisherman, that you have been on the program all year, but that, this fall, you have a chance to go back to catching herring, say, or to get involved in an experimental sea urchin fishery. All the money you make from the catch must go back to the government. This is no kind of incentive.
I am sure my colleague has heard other horror stories and I would like him to tell us—it must have been something when they wrote their report—about the mechanism for setting the provision. They say in the report that they will set a provision for expenses but, if the forecasts are not right, they will not be able to transfer amounts to programs. Does he know anything about how this mechanism? Can he tell us the Liberals' untold horror stories? I would like to hear what my hon. colleague has to say.