Finance committee  Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, on behalf of the Conseil national des chômeurs (CNC), I would like to thank you for inviting me here. I have come here to share our viewpoint on Part 4 of BillC-10which deals with governmental proposals relative to employment insurance.

Human Resources committee  Yes. I understood that there seemed to be some denial of the $54 billion surplus. I have in front of me the Monitoring and Assessment Report submitted to Mr. Solberg by the Employment Insurance commission. It says: "Including notional interest of $2.0 billion, the notional cumulative surplus in the EI Account was reported to be $54.1 billion at March 31, 2007."

Human Resources committee  I am going to start from a little farther. There are some political experiences in the world that sometimes teach us things. When we were writing our submission, one of the things we had in mind was a great politician, Nelson Mandela, who taught us that reconciliation has a price.

Human Resources committee  On behalf of the Conseil national des chômeurs et des chômeuses, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chair, and all the MPs from the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. It is not easy to finalize the list of invited speakers, but we have to thank you for this invitation.

Finance committee  If I may, I would just like to clarify one thing. It's very important to understand, Mr. McKay, that the current method for setting the premium rate will also apply with the new Board, that the goal of balancing the account has been stated in the act since 2005. There is no difference in this respect.

Finance committee  We hope that process will be as open and as democratic as possible. In terms of appointing the board of directors and the chairperson of the board, the process needs to be more transparent and more democratic. Right now, appointments are decided by a small committee working behind closed doors.

Finance committee  That could be one option. What we're saying, first and foremost, is that the $54 billion should not be relegated to history. The amount should be accounted for and interest, even virtual interest, should be calculated on the $54 billion. This amount represents a debt to the EI Account.

Finance committee  In the early 1990s.

Finance committee  For every 100 salaried workers who have paid EI premiums, only 46 will qualify for EI when they need it. The remaining 54 will be out of luck. In most cases, we're talking about people who are in temporary jobs and who do not accumulate the hours of work required to qualify. Our message is the same as the one we conveyed with respect to employment insurance.

Finance committee  At present, even the premium rate set a decade ago under the compressed system is generating surpluses. As of March 31, 2007, the accumulated surplus in the account totalled $3 billion. These surplus amounts are accounted for in the eleventh Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report which we have just received.

Finance committee  Good day. First of all, on behalf of our organization, the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, as well as all the MPs from the various parties represented on the Standing Committee on Finance. Our organization represents various groups of unemployed persons, some of whom have been working for about thirty years informing people and defending their rights.