News

Federal budget fails to end EI discrimination against Albertans: only 1 in 5 eligible for benefits

EDMONTON – Stephen Harper may represent an Alberta riding, but he certainly wasn’t thinking of the growing number of unemployed people in his home province when he and his cabinet crafted yesterday’s federal budget.

“Prime Minister Harper and his Finance Minister Jim Flaherty talked a good game about helping Canadians weather the recession that’s unfolding across the country,” says Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan.

“But they failed to take any steps to address the fact that only about 22 percent of unemployed people in Alberta are currently eligible for EI benefits – the lowest eligibility rate in the country. Unless the eligibility rules are loosened, there are going to be a lot of unemployed Albertans who won’t get the benefits they’ve paid for – and which they will desperately need to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.”

Under the current system, EI eligibility is calculated using a complex formula that factors in the prevailing unemployment rate in a given province: the lower the rate, the longer people have to work to qualify for benefits. As a result, an Albertan has to work 720 hours before becoming eligible for EI benefits, while people in some Maritime provinces have to work as few as 420 hours.

“The logic behind this system is supposed to be that it would be easier for an unemployed worker in a province like Alberta to find a job than someone in a province like New Brunswick,” says McGowan.

“But with a recession that’s clearly global in nature, it’s not going to be easy to find a job anywhere. The bottom line for us is that a lost job is a lost job, no matter where it is lost. No matter where a laid-off worker is from, he’s going to face the same cash crisis. That’s why we’re so disappointed the budget didn’t end the discrimination between regions.”

The problem caused by the EI system’s complex eligibility rules is particularly serious for young workers, contract workers and part-timers – who have a harder time stringing enough work hours together.

McGowan says that improved eligibility rules – and increased benefit maximums – wouldn’t only be good news for individual Canadians: they would also be good news for the broader economy.

“When you put money into the pockets of unemployed workers, you can be guaranteed that money will be spent right away in the communities where they live,” says McGowan. “And that’s exactly what our economy needs. You can’t say the same thing for either tax cuts – which people may simply stash in their mattresses – or infrastructure spending – which could take months to roll out.”

McGowan says he will be writing letters to both Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton, urging them to demand amendments to the federal budget that end the discrimination against workers who lose their jobs in Alberta and other western provinces.

“Both Ignatieff and Layton have said they want to work more closely with and win the trust of western voters,” says McGowan. “Here’s their chance.”

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For more information call:


Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office) or 780.218-9888 (cell)


Percentage of Unemployed receiving EI Benefits, October 2008

Number of beneficiaries receiving regular benefits October 2008

Unemployed by Province, October 2008

% Unemployed receiving regular benefits

Seasonally adjusted

Canada

485190

1139700

42.57%

Newfoundland and Labrador

36110

34600

104.36%

Prince Edward Island

7860

9100

86.37%

Nova Scotia

27400

37200

73.66%

New Brunswick

29520

35700

82.69%

Quebec

155430

301500

51.55%

Ontario

149440

471400

31.70%

Manitoba

10490

27400

38.28%

Saskatchewan

8300

21500

38.60%

Alberta

17160

78300

21.92%

British Columbia

43480

123000

35.35%

Sources:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/081219/t081219c2-eng.htm

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/71-001-x/2008010/6100035-eng.htm