Liberals detail EI changes

By JOE FRIESEN
Globe and Mail Update

The Liberal government announced changes to the employment insurance system
Tuesday that could be worth between $230-million and $270-million to
seasonal workers over the next two years.

Human Resources Minister Joe Volpe revealed his three-part plan at a press
conference in Ottawa following a report from the federal government's task
force on seasonal work.

"They came forward with some very positive proposals on what could be
done to address the gap, the gappers, les saisonniers, the seasonal workers
who will find themselves without income over the course of the next
year", Mr. Volpe said in a televised interview. "So I came
forward with three specific solutions. They are temporary. They are under a
pilot process, but they give me the opportunity to take a look at the
empirical data necessary to address the issue in its larger context."

The plan will offer seasonal workers in economically depressed regions five
additional weeks of benefits if they work for longer periods. The pilot
program is intended to test the effects of such incentives on unemployment
levels. It applies only in regions with unemployment levels above 10 per
cent.
"This new measure will benefit some 100,000 to 120,000 claimants who
will receive up to $1,000 or more per claim", Mr. Volpe said.

Mr. Volpe also announced a one-year extension to the transition measures in
the Madawaska-Charlotte region of New Brunswick and the Lower St.
Lawrence/North Shore region of Quebec. "This would mean that the
recipients for both those areas will now need less hours of work to be
entitled to employment insurance and will be receiving benefits for a
longer period of time than was previously the case in the transition
period", he said.

The provinces that have taken part in an initiative geared toward older
workers - in place since 1999 - will also benefit from a one-year extension
to that pilot project. The plan is designed to help workers aged 55 to 64
either to stay in a job or to find new employment.

"EI is a part of the solution. However, the longer-term solutions
require co-ordinated action by governments, industry and communities. We
need to build community capacity to help diversify local economies so
individuals can have access to other work opportunities when seasonal
industries slow down", Mr. Volpe said. "We think that the EI
system has worked, and worked very well. But there are some anomalies, and
we, over the course of the last couple of years, have recognized those
anomalies."

Opposition critics accused the Liberal government of using the program to
buy votes in Quebec and Atlantic Canada in the coming election.
"You've got to wonder about the motives behind this. And the
timing", said Conservative social development critic Gary Lunn.
"You get pretty cynical about this when it's on the eve of the
election."

Mr. Lunn said he had no serious objections to the changes themselves, but
was surprised at the extent of the government's pre-election spending
spree.

NDP critic Yvon Godin, the MP for Acadie-Bathurst in New Brunswick, said
the new plan only begins to address the black hole situation faced by those
whose EI benefits run out before their seasonal work can start again.
"They sat on their butts all this time, from 2001 until today. And
here we are a week from calling an election and here they come with three
pilot projects", Mr. Godin said. "This is totally unacceptable,
and the people are very upset."

Mr. Volpe responded to the criticism by saying It's nice to be accused of
being a politician who's responsive to the needs of the public and who is
actually taking action when necessity demands.


--- GoldED/W32 3.0.1