OTTAWA – Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s decision to end the freeze on employment insurance premiums is unacceptable. Time and time again the Conservative government chooses tax giveaways for large, profitable companies rather than taking measures to help employers and workers.

“The Conservative government’s decision to raise EI premiums, with support from the Liberals, is just plain wrong,” said New Democrat Employment Insurance critic Yvon Godin. “When Harper and Flaherty talk about the “recovery”, who’s recovery are they talking about? There are still at least 1.5 million Canadians unemployed.”
With economic instability continuing to loom over the Canadian economy, the Finance Minister’s decision today will only further weigh down a recovery that has still not fully taken off. Employers agree that Mr. Flaherty’s decision is threatening the still fragile recovery.

“The current freeze on EI premiums must be maintained until the $57 billion debt owed to Canadian employers and workers has been reimbursed,” argued Godin. “With today’s decision to increase EI premiums and the $57 billion in historical debt, the Finance Minister has two strikes against him.”

While workers and employers are already reeling from the news today of the Conservative EI tax hike, more bad news in on the horizon. The pilot projects and supplementary EI assistance measures, fought for by the NDP, will be expiring soon, so now even more workers will be left out in the cold. New Democrats are calling for the government to continue the existing pilot projects.

The NDP will be take advantage of its Caucus Strategy meeting in Regina on September 13 and 14 to discuss the changes needed to improve access to employment insurance. Among other aspects of the problem, NDP MPs will be looking at the fact that only 45% of unemployed Canadians currently receive benefits from the employment insurance plan, while serious regional inequities persist.