Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in favour of Bill C-299 presented by the Bloc Quebecois member for Laval Centre.
Bill C-299 proposes to amend the Employment Insurance Act in two ways. First, it proposes that the Employment Insurance Commission set the UI premium rates. Second, Bill C-299 would create a separate UI account to ensure the unemployment insurance fund is used to help unemployed workers.
One might ask why these measures are necessary. We would think that the unemployment insurance premiums we all pay are used exclusively to help unemployed workers while they are looking for a job. Unfortunately this is not exactly the case.
For the last five years the unemployment insurance fund has been collecting huge surpluses. That is not necessarily a bad thing, if the money was being spent to help the unemployed. Unfortunately these surpluses have been used by the Liberal government as a slush fund to eliminate the deficit on the backs of the unemployed.
That is why Bill C-299 is important. By having the Employment Insurance Commission set the UI premium rates, we are guaranteeing that political motivations do not become a factor in setting the premium rates.
The NDP would go even further and create an independent UI commission. We recommend that this commission be comprised of one workers representative, one employers representative and a president who would be chosen following consultations with the representatives of workers and employers. The commission should also be comprised of five part time worker commissioners and five part time employer commissioners. It should be gender balanced and reflect the regional diversity of the country.
Having the commission set premiums and creating an independent UI commission are important steps in guaranteeing the integrity of the UI program.
Bill C-299 also proposes the creation of a separate UI account. This addresses the concerns of many Canadians who refuse to accept that the UI fund has become a slush fund for the Liberal government. Unemployment insurance is a trust fund, not a slush fund.
I would like to take this opportunity to read a few comments of working Canadians who oppose the use of the UI surplus for purposes of other than helping Canada's unemployed. These comments were gathered by my colleague from Acadie—Bathurst who visited 20 cities from coast to coast to coast listening to what Canadians have to say about the changes in the unemployment insurance system and the theft of the UI fund by this government.
A worker from the Acadian Peninsula had this to say about the government's dependence on the UI fund: “The government is wrong when it says that workers become dependent on unemployment insurance. It is rather the Minister of Finance who is dependent on the unemployment insurance fund, because without it, the deficit would still be there, and his budget would show a deficit, not a surplus”.
The government has justified its changes to unemployment insurance by stating that it wants to prevent dependence. It has failed. This government has become so dependent on the UI surplus that it could not have balanced the budget without it. For all of the Minister of Finance's boasting of having balanced the budget, he forgets to mention that were it not for Canadian workers and employers, we would have no budgetary surplus.
Gary White had a very good question when he attended an event during the NDP's UI tour. Mr. White said “If someone steals from a store and gets caught, they are arrested and have a criminal record. How is it that this government can steal the money from the workers' premiums without being investigated?”
I believe this is an excellent question. How can this government take the money of workers and employers out of the UI fund? Since this government clearly has no qualms about balancing the budget on the backs of the unemployed, we need to create a separate UI fund to stop this nonsense.
Currently only 32% of unemployed workers qualify for UI benefits. Over 800,000 unemployed Canadians who have paid into the UI system are unable to get benefits. Meanwhile there is a $20 billion surplus in the UI account.
This insanity has to stop. This government is hurting unemployed Canadians and the small and medium size businesses that they are no longer able to support.
Women have also been hard hit by the government UI cuts. Fewer women qualify for maternity benefits. Only 11% of women under 25 who lose their jobs qualify for benefits. Eleven percent. Why is that? Where is the equity in that?
This government's changes in UI are hurting women, as well as young people, as well as seasonal workers. The government's changes in UI are hurting entire communities.
My riding of Dartmouth, for example, has lost $20 million a year in UI benefit payments. Nova Scotia has lost $716 million between 1993 and 1997. That is a lot of money taken out of our economy, taken out of small and medium size businesses and taken out of unemployed workers' pockets.
The unemployment insurance program needs to be reformed to respond to the realities of the current labour market. Bill C-299 is a first step in ensuring that the unemployment insurance fund addresses the preoccupation of Canadian workers.
I strongly urge members of this House to support this very important initiative put forward by the member for Laval Centre.