Mr. Speaker, on March 5 the government claimed that freezing employment insurance rates constitutes a $4.5 billion stimulus in the coming year. The government said that when jobs are lost, EI rates should go up. However, since the government does not propose to raise EI premiums, it argues that this is a stimulus. Simply put, the government is saying that not doing something it does not intend to do is an economic stimulus. How pathetic.
If the government really wants to inspire hope and confidence, maybe it should first stop the hollow rhetoric on fictional stimulus and rosy forecasts, stop delaying the passage of the budget by loading it up with non-budgetary measures, stop delaying the investment of last year's approved infrastructure funding, stop interfering with Parliament's duty to scrutinize the budget, stop playing political games, and finally, get back to work.