Mr. Speaker, since 1993 the government has increased payroll taxes by 26% and next year it is to increase payroll taxes by 6%, even after accounting for its measly five cent reduction in EI premiums announced last week.
Given that there is a $40 billion surplus in the EI account, more than twice what is needed in a downturn, why is the finance minister hoarding this surplus rather than giving back a bigger share of it to employees and employers to whom it belongs?