Mr. Speaker, needless to say, I am very pleased to resume today on Bill C-2, an act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and Regulations.
I would first like to congratulate the member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, whose great determination resulted in the passage of a motion on the employment insurance bill.
As I said in my last speech on February 13, the bill is a disgrace. This debate began in January 1997 as part of EI reform. The reform was supposed to meet the needs of the public and the realities of the workplace. The opposite effect was felt and observed, and this could have been predicted.
Through this reform, the unemployment insurance plan, which actually needed to be reviewed but not transformed nor diminished, has in fact become a plan whereby the government gets richer but the poor get poorer.
The Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities has concluded its hearings. The proposed amendments were almost all rejected, with one exception, because it was not directly related to Bill C-2. This is why the Bloc Quebecois felt it better not to move any amendments at committee stage.
However, as I said earlier, a motion moved by the member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques was passed, which will commit the government to consider other amendments to the Employment Insurance Act as a whole. The motion reads as follows:
That the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities report to the House of Commons all other amendments to the Employment Insurance Act and that this report be tabled to the House no later than June 1, 2001.
With the passage of this motion, the Bloc Quebecois, as the party responsible, intends to put all its long sought amendments back on the table in June 2001 when the committee tables its report.
After long refusing to abolish the intensity rule, the government has conceded that we were right. I hope that it will take the time to reflect on the other amendments which the Bloc Quebecois will be submitting with the report and admit that we are right about them as well.
In addition to deleting clause 9, on the setting of the premium rates, we are going to propose the following amendments: eliminating the qualifying period; establishing an independent employment insurance fund; increasing coverage from 55% to 60%—we have long been asking that benefits be increased to 60% of a person's income, as was the case before the reform—; extending the base period from 26 weeks to 52 weeks; allowing self-employed workers to be insured through voluntary contributions; bringing back to 300 hours the eligibility criterion for special benefits; increasing the period of benefits; setting income increases at 25% for all claimants before employment benefits are cut; indexing the insurable annual income at $41,500; changing the process under which the premium rate is set, so as to give all the powers to the commission; setting the threshold for the refund of premiums at $5,000, instead of $2,000; increasing from three to five years eligibility for active employment measures; eliminating the arm's length relationship clause—this applies primarily to seasonal workers—eliminating the divisor rule; providing special benefits for older workers; investing 0.8% of the total payroll in active employment measures.
As members can see, our position on Bill C-2 at report stage is that we are opposed to it if clause 9 is not deleted. The federal government must listen to the message that was sent to it time and again by the Auditor General of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Conseil du patronat du Québec and the central labour bodies, and it must delete this clause, which takes from the commission the right to set the premium rate under the employment insurance plan and gives it to the federal government. Removing the commission from the rate setting process means that these rates could be adjusted on the basis of the government's needs and deficit, instead of being based on the needs of the unemployed, and on the premiums received, as recommended by the chief actuary.
If clause 9 is passed, it will legalize the theft of the employment insurance fund by the government, which will have full ownership of it. The auditor general has criticized the government for its lack of transparency when it comes to rate setting, saying that despite the shortcomings and the lack of clarity of section 66 to some extent, in his opinion, it is nevertheless clearer than the system we would have under the new clause 9.
The people who gave evidence during the committee hearings were unanimous: clause 9 of Bill C-2 must be rejected. The Canadian public is expecting more than mere campaign promises. It is looking for important and concrete corrective measures.
The government is not interested in the plight of the unemployed, who will be negatively affected by this employment insurance reform. The measures proposed in this bill are not enough to correct the problems caused by the system, notably to seasonal workers, and particularly those in the regions, to young people, to women and to workers, particularly older workers.
In conclusion, I would like to remind this House that during the last six years, employment insurance has been the most important factor of poverty in Canada. If the government wants to protect children against poverty, it will first have to protect parents who are poor. If the government had not made such drastic cuts to employment insurance, there would be fewer children starving.