Mr. Speaker, my question is for my colleague who explained a few seconds ago that we have a surplus of $24 billion in the EI program which was transferred in 1986 from the EI program to the general fund.
When the throne speech came down it talked about wanting to give it only to maternity leave. Would the hon. member agree with me that the government is not taking responsibility for the new jobs and for women returning to work? To go on maternity leave now they need 700 hours. Many women do not qualify for EI. We saw again this morning on the first page of the Globe and Mail that many women do not qualify.
The government forgot in its throne speech all the women who do not qualify for maternity leave because of the 700 hours and the 910 hours needed to qualify for first entry. Most women work part time and do not qualify for EI. Our youth who come out of university have a hard time finding jobs and end up in part time work. They do not qualify for EI. Eight hundred thousand people who have paid into the employment insurance fund do not qualify for EI.
I would like some comments from our labour critic about how he feels about that. This money belongs to the workers. As I have said many times, the Liberal government has stolen from working people and another $30 billion from the public sector pension plan. Some $54 billion have been stolen from the working people. The government is not taking responsibility for working people.