We, the Atlantic caucus of the New Democratic Party, are greatly concerned about the effect recent changes to employment insurance will have not only on individual recipients, but also on the communities in our region. The Conservatives failed to hold consultations or study the long-term consequences of gutting the EI system before making changes that compromise the financial security of entire industries and the communities that depend on them.
Vulnerable Canadians are being pushed even deeper into poverty and this means that the federal government is offloading its responsibility onto provincial social assistance services. Currently, a record low of four in 10 unemployed Canadians are eligible for EI. Even for those few who are eligible for EI, many will be affected by the Conservatives’ abrupt cancellation of the program giving five extra weeks of benefits for claimants in high unemployment areas.
Most recently, we were disturbed to hear that Service Canada employees were sent to make house calls on randomly selected EI recipients. Along with the quotas that have been set to reduce the amount of money paid out in benefits, it is clear that this government has no shame in making all Canadians who receive EI feel like they are being targeted. New Democrats do not believe that those who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own should be made to feel as if they are doing something wrong by drawing from an insurance fund that they themselves have helped build.
Like the Liberals before them, Conservatives fail to accept that the money paid into EI does not belong to the government. Workers and their employers contribute a portion of every paycheque in order to protect them from a situation that no one wants to find themselves in: being unemployed and without income. The Liberals and Conservatives combined have taken $57 billion from workers and employers by raiding the EI fund to cover their deficits and reckless corporate tax cuts. This is unacceptable.
In addition to respecting that EI belongs to those who have paid into it, New Democrats are calling for broad consultation for a real national skills strategy and to find longer-term solutions to regional unemployment problems. While the Conservatives like to talk about skills and training, reckless changes to EI will force workers to take jobs that don’t use their skill sets. This will weaken the highly skilled and experienced labour force in seasonal and contractual industries.
This is another example of the Conservatives’ wilful destruction of our country’s safety nets. Canadians deserve better, and we will continue to fight against the Conservatives’ misguided agenda.
Submitted by Robert Chisholm (Dartmouth-Cole Harbour), Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl), Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst), Jack Harris (St. John’s East), Megan Leslie (Halifax) and Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore).
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: The Chronicle Herald
Vulnerable Canadians are being pushed even deeper into poverty and this means that the federal government is offloading its responsibility onto provincial social assistance services. Currently, a record low of four in 10 unemployed Canadians are eligible for EI. Even for those few who are eligible for EI, many will be affected by the Conservatives’ abrupt cancellation of the program giving five extra weeks of benefits for claimants in high unemployment areas.
Most recently, we were disturbed to hear that Service Canada employees were sent to make house calls on randomly selected EI recipients. Along with the quotas that have been set to reduce the amount of money paid out in benefits, it is clear that this government has no shame in making all Canadians who receive EI feel like they are being targeted. New Democrats do not believe that those who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own should be made to feel as if they are doing something wrong by drawing from an insurance fund that they themselves have helped build.
Like the Liberals before them, Conservatives fail to accept that the money paid into EI does not belong to the government. Workers and their employers contribute a portion of every paycheque in order to protect them from a situation that no one wants to find themselves in: being unemployed and without income. The Liberals and Conservatives combined have taken $57 billion from workers and employers by raiding the EI fund to cover their deficits and reckless corporate tax cuts. This is unacceptable.
In addition to respecting that EI belongs to those who have paid into it, New Democrats are calling for broad consultation for a real national skills strategy and to find longer-term solutions to regional unemployment problems. While the Conservatives like to talk about skills and training, reckless changes to EI will force workers to take jobs that don’t use their skill sets. This will weaken the highly skilled and experienced labour force in seasonal and contractual industries.
This is another example of the Conservatives’ wilful destruction of our country’s safety nets. Canadians deserve better, and we will continue to fight against the Conservatives’ misguided agenda.
Submitted by Robert Chisholm (Dartmouth-Cole Harbour), Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl), Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst), Jack Harris (St. John’s East), Megan Leslie (Halifax) and Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore).
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: The Chronicle Herald
The Democrats need to make every effort to put Conservatives in prison. Times are becoming frighteningly close to Nazi era 1930s. In ten years we may have gas chambers killing liberals as well as Jews and non-Christians and welfare moms and pregnant teens and homosexuals and people with funny hair cuts and tatoos and old ladies with dozens of cats.
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