Mr. Speaker, the member understands and he has explained it very well.
I do not have the kind of information that I wish I had to be able to do the job.
The last issue we dealt with on EI had to do with considering a base benefit requirement, a criterion of 360 hours, to qualify for benefits. The government and the minister specifically and explicitly said that it was too expensive and that we could not do that. I think it was $4.2 billion to have a 360-hour base.
Then as time went on, the government said it was only $2.5 billion, but this was after it had been pooh-poohed. Lo and behold, the Parliamentary Budget Officer finally came to the rescue of Canadians again and said that it was only $1.3 billion.
Had the government and the minister been honest with Canadians and honest with Parliament, we would have had significant EI reform, which would have been to the benefit of all Canadians fairly and equitably.