Liberals must abolish the Social Security Tribunal: NDP

OTTAWA – Echoing the call made by the Canadian Union Public Employees, the NDP is inviting the Prime Minister to keep his promise and eliminate the fiasco that is the Social Security Tribunal, so that Canadians can access the services they really need when they need them.

“It’s time to put words into action and restore a system that truly responds to people’s needs,” said the NDP critic for Jobs, Employment and Workforce Development, Brigitte Sansoucy. Many people had to wait more than a year before getting a hearing regarding their appeal for an Employment Insurance claim, one year! This is simply unacceptable!”

The NDP pointed to the fact that during the last election campaign, in an open letter to all federal employees, Justin Trudeau promised to “create new performance standards for the services offered by the federal government by restructuring the appeals process at the SST, so that Canadians can receive the services they need in a timely manner”. However, two years later, Canadians are still waiting for the promised changes.

“It’s clear that this tribunal is just not working. The process is too complex, delays are too long, and the tribunal is simply inefficient,” added Sansoucy. “The reality is that Canadians are the ones paying the price for the poor management of this tribunal. What we need are concrete actions.”