Mr. Speaker, the surplus in the employment insurance fund will be up to almost $20 billion this year.
In the meantime, the government is depriving thousands of unemployed workers of benefits. The Premier of Ontario is apparently even considering taking Ottawa to court for using the money in the employment insurance fund for purposes other than the ones intended.
How can the Minister of Finance continue to line the government's coffers with money from the employment insurance fund, putting money from workers and employers to uses other than those initially intended, when the very legality of this move is being called into question?