Mr. Speaker, we can make the same argument about equalization itself. We could say that there are pockets of Alberta where the economy is not perking along like in Calgary and therefore they should have equalization. I do not buy the member's argument.
Previous to 1971 when the reforms were made to employment insurance on the basis of regionally extended benefits previous we had a purer type of insurance program, a program that looked at individual needs and not so much at the needs of regions. Insurance should be something that is based on individual needs, not on regional needs. When we have that we see political manipulation of scarce economic resources. We see politicians using the EI fund just like we saw in the recent raid on the EI fund. We see politicians using huge piles of money for their own political ends.
In this case it has been extraordinarily damaging to workers and small businesses that paid into the fund. They have seen what happens when governments are given control over huge piles of money like has happened through employment insurance.
I reject the member's arguments. I think they are false. I would encourage him to consider that basing employment insurance on a personal insurance basis probably makes a lot more sense for everybody involved.