Mr. Speaker, first I want to say to the House and to the nation I am almost shocked that a Conservative member would stand in this place and criticize the government about EI and EI premiums.
Mr. Speaker, you will recall because you were elected in 1988, the same as I was, that during that period between 1988 and 1993 the government under Brian Mulroney, the party that the member now serves with, raised those premiums higher than any level in our history. In the middle of a recession no less it raised those premiums from $2.60 to $3.30, an insurmountable amount for any employer and employee to deal with. That is why I say to you and the people out there I cannot believe this member would even bring this subject matter up.
Let me make it very clear to the member that we are undertaking to reduce the premiums for employment insurance as rapidly as we can. In fact, we have reduced premiums in the employment insurance system four years running, the largest reduction in the history of the EI premium and EI system as a whole. There has never been any government that has reduced premiums every year for four years.
I will give another statistic. The reduction in the last budget for 1998 is the second largest since 1972. If the member does not understand that this government is fiscally prudent and if he does not understand what it means to have a surplus in the EI account for a rainy day, then he has a long way to go.
Before we are done we will continue to reduce premiums at a rate we believe is sustainable. We will make sure there is a surplus—