Madam Speaker, kudos go out to my critic from Acadie—Bathurst, a member who travelled the country to debate the EI changes of 1996 and the affect it had on workers, families, businesses and communities clear across the country. I honestly believe it was his report that pushed the government into movement and to understand the terrible assault, for a lack of a better word, it had on workers, their families and small businesses.
It is most unfortunate that the member from White Rock, in her opening statement about the EI changes, said that the bill was nothing more than a Liberal Atlantic Canada re-election strategy. That is an insult to all Canadians. In fact it is a graver insult to those of us in Atlantic Canada. After the comments from the member for Calgary—Nose Hill, from one of their colleagues, John Mykytyshyn, and now comments from the respected member of the House from South Surrey—White Rock—Langley basically slamming Atlantic Canada for the EI changes in the bill, as if the changes to EI only affect Atlantic Canada, it is simple nonsense.
The fact is that western Canada, to use their words, drains more from the EI fund than Atlantic Canada. The fact is that the sooner the Alliance Party realizes and understands that, quite possibly it may have some success east of the Manitoba border.
Some of the changes in the new EI reforms, such as the intensity rule, are very positive. We are quite glad that the minister and the government have realized and recognized the error of their ways and will change that.
A very crucial aspect of EI funding is the labour training. In a changing economy, our party, and I am sure many parliamentarians, are encouraging young people to not just have one academic aspect in their lives, such as computer training for the new economy, but to have a vocational trade as well. Many young people take vocational training but those who take the EI training are penalized for two weeks in the initial start of their training.
My colleague from Winnipeg has indicated that we should eliminate the two week clawback during training because it penalizes workers who are trying to adjust to the new economy by upgrading their skills. We believe the government should recognize, honour and commit to that amendment. Workers should not be penalized for trying to upgrade their skills. All Canadians want to be productive members of the economy but they need assistance. Some need literacy training while others need training in social skills and various labour skills.
Everywhere we go in the country we see help wanted signs in most service areas. We have a tremendous amount of help wanted signs in my own area of Sackville, Nova Scotia which are more or less entry jobs at Burger King, Swiss Chalet and so on, paying the minimum salary. The workers in those areas, although proud to have those jobs for now, want to upgrade their skills and improve their lot and their family's lot in life. They want to be able to move forward and be more progressive in the so-called new economy and the demands of the new century.
We as legislators should provide people with the assistance they need to get training, especially in the cases of single women with children. It is very difficult for them to move forward and get the training they require, not only vocationally but academically, when they also need adequate care for their children.
In some cases, especially in the rural parts of my riding, the father has taken off and has abdicated all his responsibilities. The mothers are left behind to raise the children. It is very difficult to get child support from the father if he is not working. What else can she do? She does not want to be a drain on society. It is not something she wished upon herself or her children. It is a circumstance of today's reality.
What should we do as government, as opposition members or as legislators? We must ensure that we can offer that woman and her children hope. We must provide the resources she needs to care for her family and to get the proper training she will need to get a decent job. We must ensure that she can become self-reliant, look after her children and move forward. That is the least we can do when there is a surplus of over $30 billion in the EI fund.
We know that the money is technically gone and spent. The Liberals have admitted that. I also believe the member from Mississauga, who is a great speaker in the House when he gets up on his hind legs and bellows out the Liberal rhetoric, has also admitted that the money was spent on other programs and initiatives.
The fact is that it is not the government's money. That money belongs to employers and employees. It does not belong to the Liberal government to do as it wishes and give, for example, tax cuts to major corporations, to the gun registry or anything else it proposes to do. That money does not belong to the government. It did not have the moral right to take that money and put it into any program it so desires.
That money belongs to employers and employees. It is up to the workers and the businesses to decide collectively what should be done with a massive surplus like that and what should be done about the future of the EI concerns.
Unemployment insurance is sometimes called employment insurance. It is the Liberal way of reversing itself on its head. When it first came in it offered great protection for workers and their families in the unlikely event that they lost their job either through a layoff, a company closure or anything of that nature.
The auto sector is going through a large upheaval. Thousands of workers, especially in the Windsor area, are about to lose their jobs. What would happen to those workers if there were no employment insurance fund or payments in order to look after them?
That money is essential to maintain their families, to maintain some income for their households, and to look after small businesses in the surrounding communities. It is essential that the government get it right this time. Instead of pounding away at workers and small businesses, it should start to realize that unemployment insurance fund or employment insurance fund is a vital part of the Canadian economy.
It is the workers and the businesses that put money into the fund. It is certainly not for the Liberal government to decide what to do with it.
A couple of members in the House who have since been defeated, Peter Mancini and Michelle Dockrill, two great members from Cape Breton, fought very hard for fairness in the employment insurance fund throughout the country, not just in their region of Cape Breton. They fought hard not only for the Devco miners but for the Sysco workers, fish plant workers and other workers in their area. Their eloquence and their stand to defend and fight for what was right have finally moved the government in some ways.
We also know that the Canadian Labour Congress is supportive of the initiative in some aspects, but it does wish to have some amendments go through. We are hoping that eventually the government will listen to some sound amendments by our party to make the EI fund more accountable to businesses and more receptive to workers and to communities throughout the entire country. If the government does that, it would be very positive indeed.