New Democrats move to extend EI to those who need it

OTTAWA – New Democrat Labour Critic Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain) will present a motion in the House of Commons today calling on the Harper government to make much-needed improvements to extend Employment Insurance to the tens-of thousands of newly unemployed Canadians.

“With more and more Canadians losing their jobs every day, we need a system that can really help people who need it,” said New Democrat Leader Jack Layton. “The minister may believe that it’s ‘lucrative’ to collect EI, but the truth is that Canada is running out of jobs and more unemployed Canadians deserve to access the help now, when they need it.”

According the Statistics Canada only 43% of unemployed Canadians and only 39% of unemployed women currently qualify for EI under the Harper government’s qualifications.

The New Democrat opposition day motion calls on the Harper government to eliminate the waiting period for EI, reduce the number of work hours needed to qualify for the program, expand eligibility to include self-employed workers, raise the rate of benefits and encourage training and re-training.

“This Conservative government needs to stop believing that the unemployed are victims of their own misfortune,” said Charlton. “During this unprecedented economic downtown, the Employment Insurance system is Canada’s best poverty prevention program and it needs to be available to people when they need it.”