Madam Speaker, here we are again, another session of us giving the folks at home an update of what is happening in Ottawa.
To Henry and Martha in Rimbey, Alberta I say put your feet up on your chair and here we go. It is another lesson in what is happening with the EI fund. What it basically boils down to is a $15.7 billion surplus that is being collected by the finance minister. People are probably asking themselves where it is going.
It is not actually being set up in an EI fund. It is going toward general revenue, which means it is kind of being rolled along with everything else. Remember that Canada pension plan increase people are all feeling now. It is being rolled along with that as well. It is all really part of a tax grab. That is what it basically amounts to.
A lot of people will not qualify for employment insurance out of this fund. One, they are collecting too much money to even reasonably be able to pay it out. The other thing is that there are a lot of students who are paying into this fund who, because of the temporary nature of their work, will never qualify. Really it is amounting to a percentage tax on their income.
I ask for unanimous consent for this motion to be votable.