Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to what the member had to say. I was a member of the standing committee on human resources development when this report was passed. As he said, it was a unanimous report.
I noticed that he mentioned the surplus. So did my colleague from the NDP. He also mentioned a figure, a 15% increase, I think, in demand for employment insurance and I think he said that was in the region of Quebec alone in recent times.
My question is a factual one. I was very supportive of the extension of parental leave to 12 months. It was a very important and appropriate step for Canada at this time. I wondered if the 15% increase he mentioned included the increase in expenditures because of the much greater parental leave or whether the 15% simply represents more people who are on EI.