Finance committee  I can start with that. One of the areas that EI currently covers is training. It spends about $2 billion per year on training. That comes out of the EI account. Repeatedly, when studies have been done on how effectively that money is being used and whether the EI training dollars

Finance committee  We believe one really low-cost way to make government more efficient and also enhance productivity is to deal with red tape and with paper burden and regulations. We believe we've given some strong ideas to the government on how they can start streamlining regulations and red tap

Finance committee  That would be the ideal situation, but, unfortunately, at this point in time the inconsistency of responses that our members get from CRA leads them to feel nervous just calling and getting responses. The idea is that if they're doing their due diligence and they do something und

Finance committee  Fair enough.

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. With me is Dan Kelly. He will be assisting with answering questions. CFIB is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization representing 107,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada. They collectively employ more than one

Human Resources committee  Yes, I would agree.

Human Resources committee  You mean under Bill C-56?

Human Resources committee  Yes, but on the general account there is some money owed to employers and employees.

Human Resources committee  Yes, it is.

Human Resources committee  Yes, I would agree. I understand the government's intention to choose an employee rate, simply because it was a simple administrative way of doing it.

Human Resources committee  We were only trying to test the concept at the time, rather than getting into details. We didn't ask about the details.

Human Resources committee  Because it doesn't include regular EI benefits, it makes sense that they should pay less than the employer and the employee combined. However, I also think it is important that this be self-financed. That is the other important principle.

Human Resources committee  Yes, that's why it's important that it be reviewed at least annually.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely, and it's something we've been advocating for a long time.

Human Resources committee  That's the concept, but there should be a bit of a reserve, considering the existing surplus.