Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in the adjournment proceedings on a question I asked on September 30, 1998, stressing that the government has two things to do with respect to the employment insurance: significantly lower premiums and improve the program.
In December, after the EI surplus scandal was exposed and the Minister of Finance was forced to backtrack on his plans for a bill to make the misappropriation of funds legal, EI premiums were cut by 15 cents for every $100 of income. While we were asking for a more substantial reduction, it nevertheless represents a major victory. Even more ground was won on the other, more important priority, that is reasonable eligibility requirements for the unemployed.
Today, another scandal was unveiled. The human resources development minister was caught red handed. He claimed that no quotas were imposed on his officials to achieve reduction targets in his department. Well, we in the Bloc tabled a document showing that there are indeed quotas at employment centres, which have a disastrous impact.
The New Democratic Party tabled a document providing further evidence of the fact that there are indeed individuals at Human Resources Development Canada who are put in front of a harsh reality: them must fill the required quotas or there will be no jobs left. There were 150 jobs at stake.
I hope that the unveiling of this scandal will help produce the kind of results achieved with respect to the lowering of EI premiums, that similar results can be achieved in this case and that the government will finally see the light, eliminate the intensity rule and change eligibility requirements to make them acceptable again to women and young people entering the labour force.
It is terribly discriminatory to expect a woman or young person re-entering the labour market to have worked 910 hours to qualify, when the rules are much less stringent for someone who goes on EI only occasionally. There is no reason for this sort of discrimination.
Seasonal workers are the worst off. Every time they use up 20 weeks of EI, their benefits go down 1%. Instead of getting 55% of their average earnings, they get 54% after 20 weeks of benefits, 53% after 40 weeks, and so on up to 50%. The result will be that, in two years' time, all regions with seasonal industries will have people who get 50% of their average earnings rather than 55%. This is treating people like economic guinea pigs.
It is clear that everyone wants to work. When a company advertises a job, several people apply.
Faced with all these facts, will the Minister of Human Resources Development, or the Minister of Finance, who is really in charge, do what is necessary in the coming weeks to put the EI scheme back on its rightful track, with sensible premiums and benefits that go on for a reasonable period, rather than building up surpluses to bring down the deficit at the expense of individuals and regions who have paid too high a price?
The federal government's policy, at a time when the impact of globalization is being felt, has weakened rather than stabilized regional economies.
I await an answer from the government.