Mr. Speaker, to listen to the hon. member, it is as though employment insurance were a disaster. The term “employment insurance” is perfectly clear. It is not a job creation fund. It is an employment insurance fund. It provides income insurance for workers who lose their jobs. That is what it means.
All those years prior to 1990, when we had the infamous unemployment insurance, as it was called at the time, the Government of Canada ran deficit after deficit. When the other party was in power, that is the Progressive Conservative party, it decided to change things. In 1990, it ran a deficit. In 1991, it ran a deficit. In 1992, it ran a deficit. In 1993, it ran a deficit. It constantly increased the premium rates in order to balance everything. At one point, in 1994, the premium rate reached 3.7¢. It was at that point that the employment insurance fund had a surplus. Thus, in 1995, the government decided to lower the rates. It had a surplus.
In 1994, the rate was 3.7 and today it is 2.20. That is a decrease of almost one dollar. Contrary to what the hon. member said earlier, there is cause and effect. Look at the Canadian economy. The unemployment rate has decreased by almost three points since 1995. Therefore, there are more people who are employed. If there are more people employed, there are more people contributing. Every year there is a decrease—