Perhaps, who knows? Maybe it went to Italy. We do not know.
All we know is that it went into the consolidated revenue fund. We also know that the government is proposing to spend another $11 billion in the next few years. So we have a situation where the money that has allegedly come into the EI fund does not exist. We also know the government is going to spend $11 billion in the next few years.
We can only conclude that money is going to all kinds of things that workers and employers did not ask for and do not want. The government says “We have a better idea. We will spend it for you because we think we know better”. It speaks to the government's unspoken assumption that people do not know as well as the government does how to spend taxpayers' money.
We have a situation now where the government is going to start to spend this money away. I would argue this is wrong headed. It is a much better approach to say to employers and employees “Why do we not allow you to run this fund? Why do we not take this fund off budget? Why do we not get workers and employers to decide between them which is the appropriate level of premiums to pay and what are the right benefits to pay”.
Ultimately there will be a system where both parties will have their vested interests at the table and they will come up with a compromise that will somehow suit both parties. That system is in place in other countries so we think it is a very plausible way to go. We would argue that if we did that we would have a fund that would actually be there for people when they need to draw upon it.
My friends would say that in the past the government has honoured its IOUs. Fair enough. But in this case, if we go into a recession in the next couple of months, if as an example the economy suddenly turned down because the Asian crisis hits Canada in a hard way, we would be in the situation that because the government did not prudently set aside the $15 billion, we would have to go $15 billion into the hole. We would have to start running deficits once again. That is the effect of not putting that money aside.
Who would pay to get out of that deficit hole again? It would be the workers and employers because as the government has done over the last four years, it would raise taxes to get out of the deficit. We would see workers and employers paying twice to get out of the soup.
We argue that instead of perpetuating the myth that there is a fund, as my friend did a few minutes ago, why not be honest with Canadians? Why not tell them that the money has been spent away? Why not resolve not to do it again by setting up a separate account, hiving it from the actual budget and letting employers and employees run the account themselves? That would be a much better plan.
There is another issue associated with this. The other day the finance minister was before the finance committee. Regrettably I was unable to be there. He spoke about the EI surplus and was asked some questions about it. One thing he said which was rather strange was that cutting EI premiums would not create jobs. I found that very strange. When the government cut EI premiums by so very little a few months ago, it issued a press release in which it said that cutting EI premiums would create jobs.
Which way is it? Does the finance minister believe that cutting EI premiums will create jobs as he said a couple of months ago, or is he saying now that it will not, as he said on Thursday? The government should make up its mind. One day it will create jobs, the next day it will not create jobs. The finance minister better talk to some of the people in his own department and get it straight.
Canadians want to see some cuts to EI premiums. I think they have made that very clear. We know the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been after the government for years. We know that the Reform Party has been after the government for years. We ran in the election campaign on lowering EI premiums. The finance minister had better get his act together and quit trying to engage in this type of doublespeak where he tells what he thinks they want to hear at different times.
The government has perpetuated the myth for a long time that this fund is solvent with billions of dollars in it and it will be there when it is needed in the event of a recession. That is clearly not the case. I hope my friends across the way would quit perpetuating this myth, as my friend from Prince Edward Island did a couple of minutes ago, and start to give Canadians the honest truth. Only then when we have the complete truth will we all be able to sit down together like adults and solve these problems.