Human Resources committee  I wouldn't accuse anyone in this room of playing politics. That's your job, quite frankly. But from our side to you, you haven't done enough for the unemployed as the governing party, and the message we have for you is to get back to the drawing table, talk to your Prime Minister, the Minister of HRSDC, and the finance minister to do the job you were elected to do.

Human Resources committee  Yes.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely.

Human Resources committee  We've been on the record with that, absolutely.

Human Resources committee  Yes. But to qualify that, it's still not enough, sir, and we'd like you to do more.

Human Resources committee  We're not satisfied; we acknowledge that they're positive steps, but we think far more needs to be done.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. This is a great system that was put in place a long time ago to help Canadians in times of unemployment, particularly seasonal workers and other workers. Over time it has been diluted and changed and modified, to the extent now that we find ourselves in a position where most unemployed can't get the insurance they paid for.

Human Resources committee  Certainly. We agree completely. People need this system. I saw in the paper yesterday comments from the mayor of Toronto, whose budget is going to go up--a 20% increase in welfare rates. Remember, the people you represent are also citizens of a province, are citizens of a municipality.

Human Resources committee  Frankly, you should all think.... I think the temptation of the size of this fund when it's in surplus is too much for a government to handle. I think the system needs to be overhauled, but the control can't be just with a majority government.

Human Resources committee  We're negotiators, and if something is on the table that will benefit a lot of people and we say we'll take it, it never stops us from working for the rest. The alternative...as I said previously, we wouldn't be happy if no one got it, and at least someone here will benefit. We have to keep grabbing what's on the table.

Human Resources committee  It would be to extend benefits for everyone who's unemployed, quite frankly. There is a fund there. This is the only time in Canada when someone would pay into insurance and then be denied a claim to collect the insurance they paid for. The money is there. Someone spent it, but if you can spend the surplus, then you should find the money when people are in need.

Human Resources committee  We can't get that data from HRSDC. We've asked for it. We've asked for gender breakdowns and other breakdowns, and we can't get the data.

Human Resources committee  I would have the same opinion based on the information we have. Erin's costing was in line with what we had. I think it would be a $1 billion cost to have a uniform 360 hours based on the calculation and the data we have available to us from HRSDC.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. On behalf of the 3.2 million members of our Canadian Labour Congress, I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to present our views on Bill C-50. Members of the committee, I am not here today to provide you with our thoughts on the technical aspects of Bill C-50 or whether there should be amendments to improve the bill.

Finance committee  I would draw you back and suggest that you take a look at that extraordinary financing framework. It's in your budget. There's $200 billion there. In Air Canada's case, if they have a genuine problem, it would be a simple matter for the government to issue them a letter of credit equivalent to their deficit so that when they go through restructuring they won't have a pension liability.