Mr. Speaker, on February 12, 1998, following the report on the first year of the EI reform, I questioned the minister as to the short term action he intended to take, given that this report, which I would call a rather rosy one, made no recommendation concerning the EI amendments.
The minister had been saying for a number of months that he was following the reform very closely and that we must wait for the first-year report to see if any changes were required. The report itself contains no recommendations. It even claims to have been unable to really evaluate the effect of the EI reform.
Unfortunately, those in the field have already seen the results of this punishing reform only too well. They will see it even more clearly, unfortunately, in the coming days and months with the so-called spring gap. This is the period when those who have not been receiving EI benefits long enough to carry them through to their next job, particularly seasonal workers, will have a difficult six, eight or ten weeks with no income.
It does not take an extensive report to understand the reality of the situation, and we would like the government to do something about this quickly.
In response to my question, the minister talked about how successful his economic policies have been in creating jobs. But the minister gave the wrong answer, as what is being assessed is the success of social policies.
This has been clearly demonstrated by the distinguished economist Pierre Fortin. He has established beyond a doubt that, in Quebec alone, 200,000 individuals who have been forced onto welfare since the EI reforms were implemented would still be receiving EI benefits if the basic rules had remained the same. Not only is the loss of income substantial, but individuals are also marginalized by being moved from the employment system to the welfare system. The minister's EI reform policy is an abject failure.
In that sense, what I would like the parliamentary secretary to explain to me is how they can possibly accumulate a surplus of $135 million a week in the employment insurance fund and allow eligibility requirements to marginalize and impoverish people when it has been clearly demonstrated that people do not abuse the system.
The fact is that only 3% of claimants defraud the system. This percentage is no higher than that of people who try to cheat the tax system or who exceed the speed limit. Yet, they are improperly, disproportionately penalized. The facts speak for themselves. The decisions being made even encourage them to drop out of the labour market.
Could the parliamentary secretary provide some clarifications and give me the assurance that changes will promptly be introduced by the government, now that the report has been considered by the parliamentary committee, among others?