Finance committee  Yes, under the provisions of the proposed law, there would be an amount transferred from the consolidated revenue fund to the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board. That amount would be maintained and invested by the board outside the government's consolidated revenue fund.

Finance committee  Yes, with regard to the transfer of the reserve then, the transfer of that sum of funds does not affect the government's bottom line per se, because the amount of money continues to be consolidated within the Government of Canada's books, consistent with public accounting princip

Finance committee  I should clarify this. Again, this area of the accounting treatment of different revenues and expenditures is not my particular area of expertise. My understanding is that the transfer of the money is not an expense, so that should clarify the first part of your statement. The

Finance committee  Yes, it would be leaving the consolidated revenue fund to be provided to a separate organization.

Finance committee  It's important to distinguish, when talking about the movement of EI premiums, between a cash movement and—

Finance committee  The goal is to match revenue with spending over the years so that spending and revenue are equal when the new plan comes into force. Every year, there may be deficits or surpluses. In that situation, the surpluses will temporarily be sent to the organization until rates are lower

Finance committee  That's an important question. The act contains limits on how rates are decreased or increased from year to year. Under the act, rates can't vary by more than 15¢ per year. That will ensure some stability for companies and workers.

Finance committee  It depends on the shortfall. It could be one year, three years or more. The program's underlying principle is that we're going to try to match revenue and spending every year.

Finance committee  If we anticipate a surplus in a given year, the amount of the anticipated surplus will be transferred to the independent organizations, and will be added, if you will, to the $2 billion, until rates are lowered to bring us back down to $2 billion.

Finance committee  If the reserve is completely used up, the government will continue to pay benefits until rates are increased to replenish the reserves.

Finance committee  If I understood your question correctly, the answer is yes. If the reserve is completely used up...

Finance committee  I don't know the basis for the $15 billion reserve you mentioned. All I can say is that the amount proposed by the government and found in the bill is considered sufficient to maintain rate stability, as anticipated.

Finance committee  With respect to the proposed reserve in Bill C-50, it's correct that it's proposed as $2 billion. That's an amount the government feels is appropriate vis-à-vis the rate stability provisions in the legislation.

Finance committee  It's important to recognize as well that should that reserve ever be depleted, the government will stand behind the continued payment of employment insurance benefits in that situation. So there is no concern at all that until the reserve is brought back to its intended level, th

Finance committee  Just to reiterate, the $2 billion reserve that has been set aside is considered appropriate for the parameters provided for in the legislation. The legislation contains parameters in terms of how much rates can increase or decrease, so there are stability provisions in there—and