Prime Minister Stephen Harper provided the premiers of Atlantic Canada with a sneak peek of what they can expect in their quest to derail recent changes to the federal Employment Insurance program.
During a visit to Summerside on Tuesday, the prime minister announced $7.7 million in funding from the Atlantic Innovation Fund to be provided to Prince Edward Island businesses.
But after scripted remarks to a friendly audience at the Vector Aerospace facility — Conservative MP Scott Armstrong was in attendance, representing Nova Scotia — Harper dismissed the premiers’ EI concerns.
“Let me be very clear in terms of any misinformation. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in our changes that targets seasonal industries or seasonal workers or requires anybody to leave their region to get a job,” he said in response to questions from journalists.
On the face of it, it is true that the new rules are not defined as targeting seasonal industries or seasonal workers.
And it’s true that the changes do not “require” anybody to leave their region to get a job. But if they wish to eat, some of them may have to leave, all the same.
The changes clearly target repeat applicants. When any thinking individual translates that into the realities of rural economies right across Canada, there is no question that seasonal industries are a big part of the picture.
And in Atlantic Canada, where there are lower levels of population, higher levels of taxation and less economic activity, the EI changes imposed by the Harper government obviously have a harsher impact.
Seasonal industries, as the premiers noted during their meeting at White Point Lodge last month, play a greater role in this region’s overall economy than is the case in other provinces.
In his remarks, Harper referenced the beautiful beaches and fairways of Prince Edward Island and told the audience “the tourists will be back soon.”
But quickly drawing a comparison to an emerging sector of the Island’s economy, the prime minister went on to note that the Vector Aerospace engine maintenance facility is a “world-class facility where Islanders are doing world-class work,” providing solid jobs and allowing local workers to stay in their home communities.
That is true, and Vector is certainly a success story worth emphasizing.
There are plenty of good news stories in the Atlantic economy, and Harper highlighted several on Tuesday.
He touted the international success of Ocean Nutrition Canada, the Dartmouth-based dietary supplement company, as a stellar example of business innovation in this region that has been supported by federal investment.
The Atlantic premiers, however, are hopeful they can help Harper to see that on a comparative basis, the impact of the changes that reduce access and levels of benefits for repeat applicants is having a very harsh impact on many traditional elements of the region’s economy.
Their argument suggests that in rural communities, the gradual loss of seasonal workers to other regions will result in greater harm to those industries, compounding Atlantic Canada’s already dim demographic outlook.
The premiers say the EI changes were implemented last year without adequate study or consultation.
They have committed to a regional review of the impact of the changes and intend to release the results in the fall.
Last month at White Point, P.E.I., Premier Joe Ghiz said the Island’s tourist trade relies on seasonal workers to provide service, but the federal EI changes are undercutting the industry.
“If you want to come to P.E.I., and go to our beaches, watch Anne of Green Gables, and eat our oysters, and eat our potatoes, and go fishing — well guess what? We need people in those areas to work in seasonal industries and they depend on the employment insurance program.”
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter captured the overall picture by explaining that the erosion of the region’s rural population, already a concern, is getting worse.
“The dismantling of the EI system meant that so many of the people who could at one point in time, have a sustainable livelihood in their communities, no longer can,” said Dexter.
“They have had to leave. They leave because their jobs here are seasonal and they don’t come back.”
And at the moment, despite the success stories that are out there, there simply aren’t enough Vector Aerospace jobs, or Ocean Nutrition jobs, to reverse that outward tide.
Harper may call it “misinformation” if he likes. But to the Atlantic premiers, the numbers just don’t lie.
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: MARILLA STEPHENSON
During a visit to Summerside on Tuesday, the prime minister announced $7.7 million in funding from the Atlantic Innovation Fund to be provided to Prince Edward Island businesses.
But after scripted remarks to a friendly audience at the Vector Aerospace facility — Conservative MP Scott Armstrong was in attendance, representing Nova Scotia — Harper dismissed the premiers’ EI concerns.
“Let me be very clear in terms of any misinformation. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in our changes that targets seasonal industries or seasonal workers or requires anybody to leave their region to get a job,” he said in response to questions from journalists.
On the face of it, it is true that the new rules are not defined as targeting seasonal industries or seasonal workers.
And it’s true that the changes do not “require” anybody to leave their region to get a job. But if they wish to eat, some of them may have to leave, all the same.
The changes clearly target repeat applicants. When any thinking individual translates that into the realities of rural economies right across Canada, there is no question that seasonal industries are a big part of the picture.
And in Atlantic Canada, where there are lower levels of population, higher levels of taxation and less economic activity, the EI changes imposed by the Harper government obviously have a harsher impact.
Seasonal industries, as the premiers noted during their meeting at White Point Lodge last month, play a greater role in this region’s overall economy than is the case in other provinces.
In his remarks, Harper referenced the beautiful beaches and fairways of Prince Edward Island and told the audience “the tourists will be back soon.”
But quickly drawing a comparison to an emerging sector of the Island’s economy, the prime minister went on to note that the Vector Aerospace engine maintenance facility is a “world-class facility where Islanders are doing world-class work,” providing solid jobs and allowing local workers to stay in their home communities.
That is true, and Vector is certainly a success story worth emphasizing.
There are plenty of good news stories in the Atlantic economy, and Harper highlighted several on Tuesday.
He touted the international success of Ocean Nutrition Canada, the Dartmouth-based dietary supplement company, as a stellar example of business innovation in this region that has been supported by federal investment.
The Atlantic premiers, however, are hopeful they can help Harper to see that on a comparative basis, the impact of the changes that reduce access and levels of benefits for repeat applicants is having a very harsh impact on many traditional elements of the region’s economy.
Their argument suggests that in rural communities, the gradual loss of seasonal workers to other regions will result in greater harm to those industries, compounding Atlantic Canada’s already dim demographic outlook.
The premiers say the EI changes were implemented last year without adequate study or consultation.
They have committed to a regional review of the impact of the changes and intend to release the results in the fall.
Last month at White Point, P.E.I., Premier Joe Ghiz said the Island’s tourist trade relies on seasonal workers to provide service, but the federal EI changes are undercutting the industry.
“If you want to come to P.E.I., and go to our beaches, watch Anne of Green Gables, and eat our oysters, and eat our potatoes, and go fishing — well guess what? We need people in those areas to work in seasonal industries and they depend on the employment insurance program.”
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter captured the overall picture by explaining that the erosion of the region’s rural population, already a concern, is getting worse.
“The dismantling of the EI system meant that so many of the people who could at one point in time, have a sustainable livelihood in their communities, no longer can,” said Dexter.
“They have had to leave. They leave because their jobs here are seasonal and they don’t come back.”
And at the moment, despite the success stories that are out there, there simply aren’t enough Vector Aerospace jobs, or Ocean Nutrition jobs, to reverse that outward tide.
Harper may call it “misinformation” if he likes. But to the Atlantic premiers, the numbers just don’t lie.
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: MARILLA STEPHENSON
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