Mr. Speaker, based on the data compiled over a period of 26 years, the cost of the employment insurance program has always followed the unemployment rate.
The report on employment insurance that was tabled yesterday confirms this fact by pointing out that half of the reduction in benefits can be attributed to the changing labour market.
How can the Minister of Finance claim in his budget that the 11% cost increase for the EI program can be attributed to an improved economy, thus contradicting 26 years of statistics and the EI experts?