40th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION
EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 014
CONTENTS
Thursday, February 12, 2009

Employment Insurance

Mr. Michael Savage (Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, Lib.):

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to follow up on a question I asked the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. It came from a newspaper article where she was quoted, and she has never denied it, saying that she did not want to make EI too lucrative or pay people not to work. I see members on the government side are shocked at that. I can see in their faces that some members cannot believe she would say something like that, but she did. It is an appalling statement to make about the unemployed workers of Canada.

We have a lot of issues with EI, but one of the key ones right now is that EI is a very effective form of stimulus. Ian Lee, an economist and director of the MBA program at the Sprott School of Business, talked about a study that ranked the different types of stimuli. Out of tax cuts, infrastructure and the different types of stimuli, the most effective form would be employment insurance.

In today's Toronto Star is the headline, “Welfare 'stimulus' touted. Want bang for buck in economic package? Give the poor a hand...” The same goes for employment insurance. This is money goes to people who absolutely need it. The problem is they are not getting it. Not enough Canadians have access to it.

According to the Caledon Institute in 1976, 84% of unemployed Canadians could receive EI benefits, and I do not think anybody has ever disputed this. Now it is 44%. It is just not right.

On top of that, we have the disgrace of delays by Service Canada. It is not the fault of the wonderful employees of Service Canada that people do not get their benefits on time. I do not think anybody on the government side, particularly the minister, is standing up for people waiting for EI.

A number of members on this side are. The member for Madawaska—Restigouche raised a question in the House yesterday and spoke to this need. He said in a press release that the waiting period for receiving the first EI cheque had been increasing. He said that they were no longer talking about two weeks but more like seven to eight weeks. He added that some people had even waited 55 days or more before receiving their first EI benefit.

I spoke to him as the critic and he told me about a specific person who, I think he indicated, had contacted him on Facebook and had asked for help. My colleague and friend, the member for Madawaska—Restigouche, brought it to the floor of the House of Commons. Unfortunately, the answers are not particularly forthcoming. That is the concern we have on this side.

Employment insurance is an absolute necessity in these difficult times. There are so many things the government could do to improve it. It could have eliminated the two-week waiting period; it did not do it. It could have increased benefits; it did not do it. It would have equalized access for people who need assistance; it did not do it. It added five weeks at the end and that is small comfort to people who do not qualify at all.

The government needs to step up and represent the people who are losing their jobs through no fault of their own. It is not lucrative to be on employment insurance. Nobody wants to be on it at a fraction of his or her previous salary. I wish the government would not be so out of touch and insensitive to the needs of those workers.

Mr. Ed Komarnicki (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate hearing the comments of the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour. He raised some of these issues just a couple of nights ago. We addressed what we are doing with respect to EI in terms of extending benefits and other matters. I certainly appreciate the fact that although he sees some problems with it, he did vote for the budget implementation bill today. That bill will put into effect many of the positive measures with respect to the employment insurance program and the items we have set out in our economic action plan.

As I have already said, our government is very concerned with helping those who are worried or who are having trouble making ends meet. We recognize that they are worried about keeping their jobs. We understand that many are worried about being able to pay their mortgage. We know that many are worried about being able to care for their families. It is during these difficult times that Canadians need to know that their government is listening to them and that we have an action plan that will help them.

As the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development has stated through our economic action plan, we will help those facing unemployment. We will protect jobs. We will invest in training and skills development.

To help cushion the impact of these difficult economic times, our government is delivering significant improvements to employment insurance that focus on where the need is greatest right now. I would ask the member to focus on those improvements.

In this regard, the member opposite will be comforted to know that not only he supported budget 2009, but there were others. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the support we have received for the very important measures contained in our economic action plan.

Here is what the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada had to say:

We are pleased to see measures that will support those Canadians most affected by the economic downturn by helping them to weather and recover from this economic storm. Measures such as personal tax relief and extended Employment Insurance benefits will put more money in their hands at this crucial time. The Canadian Skills and Transition Strategy is important to ensure that when Canada emerges from this recession, it has a skilled and knowledgeable workforce.

Here is what the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association had to say about our economic action plan:

CRFA strongly supports.... The steps the government has taken to ensure unemployed Canadians have access to the EI benefits they need without increasing costs for employers.

The Forest Products Association of Canada said:

The investments in worker training through EI, the extension of the EI work-sharing program and support to communities that have been affected by the economic downturn, are welcome initiatives that will help more Canadians keep their jobs and employers hold onto talented workers.

Our government understands that unemployed Canadians are worried about putting food on the table and finding work to keep their homes and provide for their families. We understand that. That is why through our economic action plan we will help over 400,000 people benefit from an additional five weeks of EI benefits. We will help 160,000 people, including long-tenured and older workers, get retrained to find a new job and to provide for their families. We will help create tens of thousands of new jobs while building and renovating the many homes for those most in need.

This government has heard the needs of Canadian workers and is going to deliver the protection they need to get through these difficult times.

Mr. Michael Savage:

Mr. Speaker, I enjoy serving with my hon. colleague on the human resources committee. He mentioned that we are supporting the budget and that is very true, but he also has to understand that it is not a carte blanche endorsement of the budget. In fact, the day that our leader, the Leader of the Opposition and soon to be prime minister, indicated that he would provide grudging support for this, he said:

It [meaning the budget] extends EI benefits but fails to extend EI eligibility.... It doesn't go far enough to protect Canadians who have lost--or will lose--their jobs.... We will be watching like hawks to make sure the investments Canadians need actually reach them. And should [the Prime Minister] fail to satisfy the expectations of Canadians, we will be ready to defeat him and lead in his place.

EI will be part of that discussion, I am sure, as we go forward. We want to see better treatment of Canadian workers who are losing their jobs. So far, we have not seen enough. It is going to have to get better really quickly.

Mr. Ed Komarnicki:

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for supporting our economic action plan and for voting in favour of our budget, which contains a number of enhancements to the EI program. Obviously, he felt those were something he could support because he did. What other reason would he have? I take his party's support for our economic action plan as a vote of confidence in our government and I welcome his support.

Through these measures we are acting to protect jobs. We are acting to create jobs. We are acting to protect and help the most vulnerable to get back on their feet. We have extended the period by five weeks. We have made provisions for older workers, for long-tenured workers. We have invested a significant amount of dollars for skills upgrading and retraining. We have done the kinds of things that people have asked us to do through broad consultation. That is what they want us to do. We will be there to help them during these difficult times. Once again, I thank the member for supporting us.

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