Mr. Speaker, I in turn would urge all members of the House to support the Bloc Quebecois motion. I will reread the major elements:
—castigate the government for the catastrophic effects of its reforms to unemployment insurance—
Nobody can deny the catastrophic effects.
—for having taken over funds destined for unemployed persons—
That is what I am going to take a closer look at, and nobody can deny that either.
—and for its inability to adapt the unemployment insurance system to the new realities of the labour market.
No argument here either.
—particularly where young people, women, and self-employed persons are concerned.
There is one aspect of the present situation that can only be described as scandalous, and I am choosing my words carefully. That is the fact that the now $15 billion surplus—around December, it was estimated at $12 or $13 billion—came about, as my colleagues and I have pointed out, and many people have added their voices to ours over the years, because the government cut benefits to unemployed workers, but also because it continued to levy a payroll tax that, let us be honest, is expensive.
The minister says he has reduced EI premiums to $2.70 for 1998. But what members should know is that the department's senior actuary said that the present regime is costing only about $2. That is the truth.
What does the Bloc Quebecois say? We say that the government can have a surplus to cover the unforeseen. It does not have to be so high, because, as it is now, the system is so weakened that the fund will never be used up. It is like a bottomless pit.
Although the fund stood at $12 billion when the government brought down its budget in the spring, members should know that it had planned a surplus of at least $6 billion. If half of this $6 billion were used to lower premiums and the other half to improve the system, so that more young people, women and seasonal workers were eligible, the system would make more sense and be better adapted.
The workers paying EI premiums, because this is the important point, are those earning up to $39,000. This is the main point. Above $39,000, workers no longer pay EI premiums. Why is it that people who work overtime, those who make higher salaries or who are not in danger of being forced to use employment insurance do not pay for what we call economic stabilization?
Employment insurance is not a welfare system, but an instrument of economic stabilization. What is the finance minister doing? He is changing it into another welfare system, but with the difference that it is funded by middle income workers. This is out of the ordinary.
The second element is that businesses are paying. Businesses that pay their employees less than $39,000 are mostly small businesses. A small business employee will seldom earn more than $39,000, except perhaps a few management people. This means that on these $39,000, the tax paid by the business is 1.4 times the one paid by the employee. Small businesses do not pay this with their profits, but with their revenues.
This means we are in an absurd economic situation in a country that wonders why its productivity is low and the unemployment rate is too high, where workers who earn up to $39,000, not the others, pay once again to reduce the deficit and to restore a bit a social solidarity in Canada.
The Minister of Finance was saying “We reduced taxes for 83% of Canadians and eliminated them for 400,000 people”. But what he is saying? He is saying that the government did so with money paid mainly by small businesses and by workers earning less than $39,000. This is redistributing poverty, to a certain extent. It is clear that this makes no economic or social sense. I would be inclined to say this makes no political sense.