Mr. Speaker, on March 12, I asked the Minister of Human Resources Development a question about employment insurance and the $42 billion surplus. There was a rumour to the effect that the Department of Human Resources Development wanted to charge interest on overpayments, which would increase even more the employment insurance fund.
To my great surprise, the minister gave me the following answer:
Mr. Speaker, my department is reviewing a proposal to charge interest on employment insurance debt related to fraud only and not to debt accrued as a result of mistakes. This intention was signalled in our report on plans and priorities last year.
Last week, she put forward a proposal to impose interest on employment insurance debt related to fraud.
We could perhaps understand the minister's comments if we were told that the minister would charge interest only to those who have committed deliberate fraud. But who will decide that someone has committed fraud?
It will be this same minister, her employees, public servants, who will sit down and decide whether one case involves fraud and another does not. We are talking about people who have lost their jobs, but in addition, if someone is found guilty of fraud, he or she will have to pay penalties.
Our Canadian Alliance colleague mentioned a case here in the House of Commons of someone who apparently obtained $350 by fraudulent means. There were penalties of $3,500. But that is not enough. Now the government wants to charge interest.
On top of that, in her release, the minister says that she wants to use “the Bank of Canada average rate plus 3%”. This is completely unacceptable, and so is the rate of interest, because the surplus is $42 billion. Right now, the federal government is receiving $8 billion in surplus EI payments to pay down Canada's debt, while the unemployed are receiving $7.2 billion.
And it talks about fraud. I think there is more fraud going on in the government than there is among workers who have lost their job.