The pilot project would go a long way toward helping people right now, but what we're faced with in the current EI crisis.... A lot of people don't realize that here in Newfoundland and Labrador fish harvesters have a completely separate EI program from other seasonal workers. It is a very convoluted and confusing process for a lot of people. It's also very convoluted and confusing for people who actually work in EI. We experienced that this year when the information we received, even from Service Canada, wasn't accurate and people were not able to apply for benefits.
The biggest problem that happened this year was the change in the unemployment rate. That was unexpected and it came at the end of the fishing season. When fishing seasons were already clewed up, people had the expectation, as they've had in all previous years, that they would need a certain number of weeks and a certain amount of income to qualify for their regular benefits. Since this change came at the end of the season, people had no ability to get those extra weeks. They had no ability to get that extra income.
As MP Small said, we didn't get the increase in cod this year. The cod season was closed in less than one week and a lot of people weren't even able to land any product.
It's a multi-faceted problem. We participated in the EI reform discussions, but I think the biggest thing is making the EI system responsive in a timely manner. It's been over two months since that EI rate changed. The longer we wait for a solution, the more convoluted the problem becomes because people have already applied for EI and people are waiting to apply for EI. How are we going to find a solution that helps these people? We understand it's not as easy as clicking a button and giving these people access to funds. I think the government needs to make it a priority to find out how we can do this in the future so that people are not left with no income in a really difficult time.
I hope that answers the question.