Mr. Speaker, I am going to assume that the member is supportive of a seniors strategy, but she has raised the issue of EI a couple of times.
First, she has failed to acknowledge in the House that the inclusion of EI revenues in the pool of federal funds was as required by the Auditor General.
The other thing is that the notional surplus of some $46 billion is less than the debt that has been paid down. Therefore, if the member wants to colour code dollars, yes, of the $50-some-billion that has been paid down on the national debt one could say that $46 billion has been as a consequence of the EI surplus, but it is generating savings of some $3 billion a year which are permanent savings and savings available to invest in permanent programs which one cannot do until one gets one's debt under control. That has happened.
We do have legislation in our country that guides the EI fund. It says that the $46 billion sitting in there has to go back to Canadians in terms of reduced EI premiums, or increased program spending or to pay benefits under the EI plan. It is not lost. That obligation is still there.
The member should understand that it is not taking money and doing nothing with it. It is holding the money, using the money in the interim to pay down debt and save interest, and to have that security for Canadians should we hit a deep recession and high unemployment.