Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. Indeed, if we had a system controlled by the ones who fund it, that is employers and employees, we would find ourselves in a completely different situation as far as the crisis in the softwood lumber industry is concerned. We could have signed a MOU saying that, when a particular industry is faced with an exceptional situation, the number of weeks of benefits could increase, as suggested by the Bloc Quebecois last fall when the lumber crisis started.
Over a decade ago, the government was paying into the fund. At the time, it felt justified in saying that the government's unique interests should be taken into account. The government no longer pays into the fund, yet dips into the surpluses to cover other expenses unrelated to the EI program.
This is where the problem lies. The $5 billion it takes each year to cover other expenses, such as advertising campaigns, and all sorts of other expenses in the system, is money that is not available for workers and the unemployed who would need it when they are out of work.
It has been demonstrated that, as in all other sectors, less than 3% of the unemployed are cheats. Therefore, the solution to this problem is not a system that penalizes workers, that limits the period for benefits and that requires them to work a greater number of weeks in order to qualify. We had proof, when the intensity rule was abolished, that this was not the approach to take. People want to work. They want to have jobs.
Allow me to give an example. In my riding, in my region, there are 3,500 people every year who exhaust their EI benefits period and wind up in the gap, the period during which they receive no income. Meanwhile, the minister came to visit and announce a project that would allow 75 workers to find jobs. That is great for those 75 workers, that is a fine program. But what about the 3,400 or 3,500 with nothing? We need to find something, a balance to avoid the spring gap, so that our seasonal workers—who have worked for a certain number of weeks every year and who cannot do so because the industry in which they work cannot employ them—can receive benefits for enough weeks.
In my region, from 1992 to 1998, there was an annual drop of $100 million in benefits. Imagine the impact that has in terms of the distribution of wealth. It is not hard to imagine what kind of a difference that makes, in terms of the distribution of wealth. This instrument, or this role, is completely controlled by the government. It cannot blame it on the provinces if it does not work. It is not using EI to improve the distribution of wealth. It has broken the agreement that existed, the agreement between the resource regions and the central regions. Before, we guaranteed resource regions an employment insurance program for down times when there were no jobs. This allowed communities to survive. The government broke this agreement, without providing any opportunities for economic turnaround, which we should have been able to expect. This is why even a bill such as this one today contains none of the measures that the people in our regions wanted.