The Liberals had held every seat in the province leading up to the election, but they lost them all, going against a national trend that saw Jean Chretien win his second of three majority mandates.
But Nova Scotians were unhappy with health-care cuts, downloading on the province and, particularly in rural seats with high unemployment, cuts to EI benefits.
All 11 Liberal incumbents were sent home in the 1997 election, with Nova Scotia voters dividing the province’s seats between six NDP MPs and five Progressive Conservatives, including rookie MacKay from Central Nova.
MacKay, now the defence minister and Nova Scotia’s senior cabinet minister in the Harper government, was well versed with the government’s explanation on the EI program when I asked him about the changes that will come as a result of Thursday’s federal budget.
"All of the social programs have to be aligned with the demographics, as well, keeping in mind, value for dollar," he said in an interview. "Taxpayers’ interests have to be protected.
"This is a recalibration to ensure that the program will be sustainable over the long term. It’s also to ensure there is proper accountability in the system and that’s something that’s always been there, although I don’t know that enforcement was actually being followed."
Accountability is a fair request; the plan is to have workers demonstrate that they are actually looking for work while they collect benefits.
But while sustainability may be an issue for some federal programs, it’s tough to see EI as being one of them. For years under the Liberals, the program ran a $3-billion surplus. Former auditor general Sheila Fraser regularly castigated the government for hauling in a huge surplus in payroll deductions, then transferring the funds into general revenue to be used for other purposes.
Meanwhile, many Canadian workers who paid into the program were not eligible for benefits for one reason or another.
The Harper Conservatives kept those surpluses in place for several years before making improvements to the program, although they had been critical of the surpluses while in opposition.
They also froze premiums in 2010, but it was announced in the 2012 budget that premiums will begin to rise again.
The clawback of any income from part-time work will be reduced, which is similar to changes made to provincial welfare benefits to encourage people to join the workforce in some capacity.
"A job is a job," said MacKay. "It’s not being in a situation where you have to fall back on these programs. Most people who are on EI — in fact, the vast majority — want to work. That is where the focus is in this budget."
The program changes include funding aimed at bringing underemployed segments of the population into the workforce.
Importantly, in provinces such as this one, the program will be altered to provide different levels of benefits, based on whether workers are in high- or low-employment areas. That news will not be welcomed in rural municipalities that are struggling to maintain population and rebuild their economies, and where seasonal employment is more commonly the only work to be found.
It’s also been suggested that the goal is to vary benefit levels and thereby force frequent EI claimants to move from their home communities to other centres — such as Western Canada — where work is easier to find.
MacKay says he is hopeful that smaller employers in Nova Scotia communities outside Halifax will benefit from the combat ship program won by Halifax Shipyard and that the hydroelectricity project with Newfoundland will bring broad economic benefits.
Other changes in the budget will require provinces seeking permission to bring in foreign workers to first demonstrate that the jobs cannot be filled by workers who live in low-employment communities. It’s clear that comments made last month in Halifax by federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, pushing the province to retrain unemployed Nova Scotians, were a warm-up to program changes in the federal budget.
"When you look at unemployment levels — and I live in one of the highest unemployment areas of the province, and the same can be said of western Nova Scotia and the South Shore — the program as it is designed is meant to match the need, to respond to areas that have higher unemployment," said MacKay.
"That calibration continues."
The program was never intended to be used as a seasonal welfare program, but the truth is, in many rural communities, it is the only thing keeping more people from moving away. A further decline in support from the EI program will exacerbate the rural-urban divide being felt in most Canadian provinces.
And if the Liberal experience is any indicator, the Conservatives will have to tread carefully to avoid calibrating their way out of political support from smaller Nova Scotia communities.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: MARILLA STEPHENSON
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