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August 3rd, 2022

Liberals turn their backs on hard-working people who need help

Employment and Workforce Development Critic Daniel Blaikie issued the following statement:

“Since the start of the pandemic, workers were forced to live with the emotional stress of losing their income while being ineligible for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. The rising cost of living only adds to this anxiety for families struggling to get by. For workers to be able to pay rent, groceries and gas for their cars, EI must be made more accessible.

Prior to the pandemic, more than half of unemployed people did not qualify for EI benefits when they needed it the most. The pandemic has only shown the monumental failure of the EI program by excluding millions of unemployed people who have been left without help. That's why the NDP fought to get $2000 through the CERB for the millions of workers excluded from EI. Without it, they would have been completely abandoned.

In the seven years the Liberals have been in power, they have made big promises but have continued to exclude millions of workers from EI benefits by putting the interests of big corporations ahead of struggling families. By refusing to permanently put in place an EI program that works, the Liberals are protecting the profits of big corporations who want to maintain the precarious status of their workers to maximize their profits, instead of listening to workers who need these benefits to make ends meet.

This Liberal government not only refuses to make EI more accessible, but they are also going after people who applied for help in good faith at the beginning of the pandemic. The Liberals are even cutting the meager maternity benefits of a single mother who needed the CERB to pay rent and groceries.

The NDP is fighting for people and will continue to pressure the Liberals to increase EI benefits, making them available to any worker who loses their income, no matter where they work, so that no one is left behind.”