There will be a lot of substance if the hon. member would care to listen. What they actually fight for is a little caucus, just to set the record straight.
However, there is a reason I have made that point. It is curious that members from eastern Canada come here and fight the changes to the Employment Insurance Act, when in fact the message came through loud and clear, through 19 Liberal seats in the maritimes, that they wanted change.
One must also remember that our government monitored the changes made in 1996 and realized that they needed an additional review. That is what this is about. Contrary to the negativity that tends to come from across the floor, they should be saying that they are pleased the government is listening.
Some members may be surprised to hear that there are members on this side of the House, myself included, who would support additional changes that may come out of committee, such as the apprenticeship issue mentioned by my good friend from Winnipeg. It makes a lot of sense.
What is employment insurance? It reminds me somewhat of the definition of life insurance. One pays a premium to a company betting that one will die. The company accepts the premium betting the client will live, and the client hopes they are right.
Employment insurance is very similar. The employees pay a premium along with the employer. In doing so, the employees are betting that they might need the use of the fund. They are betting that they could lose their job. The employment insurance commission bets the employees will not, and the employees hope it is right.
EI is an insurance program and not a social program which, with all due respect to my colleagues in the NDP, is how they view it. It is an insurance plan based on studies and actuarially sound financial data. The premiums are adjusted up and down as the economy functions.
Members of the Conservative Party say that the premiums are too high. It was not too many years ago, under former Prime Minister Mulroney, when the premiums exceeded $3. Under this Liberal government the premiums are down to $2.25. Let us not speak of premiums being too high, or of the surplus that my friends on the opposite side so eloquently discuss.
I would like to take the members back in a time machine about 10 years and have them tell me what the surplus was. Was there a surplus at all? In reality there was not. There was a deficit. Let us look at the history of the unemployment/employment insurance program. At the end of the day it is the government of the day that is responsible for ensuring that EI money is available to workers at 55% of their earned income. It is the government's responsibility to provide the money in good times and in bad. Ultimately the government of the day, whatever party, is on the hook.
How was the surplus created? It is not rocket science. More revenue is being generated in total premiums, both from workers and from corporations, than is being paid out in benefits because the unemployment rate is low. Therefore not all the money is needed.
What happens if the economy turns? Are we naive enough to think that we will keep rolling along, that there will never be a change, a bump in the road or a downturn? We already see it happening.
Employment insurance is not, with all due respect, just for Atlantic Canada.