Mr. Speaker, the member has raised more items than I can properly address and do them justice in the time allotted. All I can say is that all of the premiers got together. They agreed on the equalization and on the fiscal balance within the federation.
The member and a previous speaker for the Bloc wanted to talk about EI. Let me remind the member, and the House for that matter, there is legislation guiding the notional EI fund. It says that to the extent there is a surplus, there must be at least a couple of years of surplus there. To the extent that there is a surplus in excess of what is required for emergency purposes, for example, a major recession, either EI premiums must come down or new programs must be introduced to bring down that surplus.
That is exactly what happens. The moneys of the existing surplus in excess of the amount necessary are still there and available to go down. We have reduced the EI premiums each and every year since 1993.