Human Resources Committee on Feb. 12th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Great.

We're going to move to Madame Beaudin, for five minutes, please.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much to our guests for having accepted our invitation.

I would like to begin by asking for clarification on employment insurance. When you say that 82% of those paying into EI are eligible, are you talking about contributing members who apply or do you mean that 82% of contributors may apply?

[Paul Thompson]

What I mean is that 82% of laid-off workers who have contributed to employment insurance are eligible for benefits.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Did this 82% of contributing participants clearly apply for employment insurance?

[Paul Thompson]

Yes, here are the facts: among those people who have paid into the employment insurance fund and whose termination of employment makes them eligible, 82% receive benefits.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Contributing, that is one thing. You can contribute and be eligible for the employment insurance program, but not apply because you have not accumulated enough weeks of work.

When you talk about 82% of contributors, did they all apply and are they receiving employment insurance benefits?

[Paul Thompson]

It is the opposite: 18% of those who have contributed were not eligible, that is because they did not accumulate enough hours of work or perhaps for other reasons.

This 82% is essentially the rate of contributors who have received their benefits.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Perfect, thank you.

Social housing is another area which is of great concern to me. When you said that there is new investment over two years, I just want to check that it is really new money. Is it?

[Karen Kinsley]

Yes, it is.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

What, in your assessment, is needed in terms of new social housing units in Canada and Quebec? Have you researched that?

[Karen Kinsley]

Yes, we have. There is a national measure that is part of the census question on pressing housing needs, what we call in English core housing needs. It is a nation-wide and provincial measure indicating the number of people who are having trouble getting access to housing. And this measure has been in place for years.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

According to your assessment, what is the demand for new social housing units? Based on your assessment, how many new social housing units need to be built in Canada and Quebec?

[Karen Kinsley]

Indeed, there are measures on those in need which enable us to make an estimate on demand.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I see, but how many new social housing units were built in the last year?

[Karen Kinsley]

Under the Affordable Housing Initiative, 41,000 housing units were built before late December 2008. The program expires in March 2009.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I see.

In Quebec alone, it is estimated that 450 households have core housing needs. In Montérégie, where my riding is, in January alone, 37 houses were abandoned due to the economic crisis.

You say that 41,000 new social housing units were built and that the additional investment has been spread over two years. How you are going to meet the need for new social housing units and at the same time meet the deadlines that you set with the municipalities? If construction is not completed or if you have not met the demand within the prescribed deadline, what are you going to do with the leftover money?

[Karen Kinsley]

I am just trying to clarify the question. In addition to the monies announced in the economic plan that you mentioned in September, the government has announced another envelope of $1.9 billion for social housing. In total, there is new money to the tune of $4 billion for social housing.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

How are you going to be able to meet the two-year deadline? Social housing units aren't built in three weeks. Given the needs and the tight deadlines, how are you going to meet demand?

[Karen Kinsley]

As I said, we are using programs which already exist. In the case of Quebec, there is a program which was developed and is run by the province. Our response time is quick because of the existing network. In almost every province, there's a process to determine which projects can go forward. We think we will be able to move very quickly as soon as this new money is approved.

[Josée Beaudin, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

You're saying that there are 41,000...

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you. That's all the time we have.

We're actually over time, but thank you for the response.

We're going to go over to Mr. Lobb for five minutes.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Again, I would really like to extend my appreciation to you, your team, and your colleagues for attending for the second time in one week. I know that's a testament to your dedication and your time, because I know those hours you spend here are added on at the end of the day or before the work day begins. In regard to the rest of your staff, I do appreciate the long hours you're working. It definitely takes time away from your family, and likely on the weekends, too.

Again, on Service Canada, which my staff deals with directly, I appreciate their help and their good demeanour on the phone. It really is a testament to their training and so forth. I can only speak on behalf of our office, but I would like to say that nine times out of ten there's an issue with the paperwork that's submitted with the EI claims, and we're able to help them along and make sure they get the dollars rolling.

I would like to make a comment, though, on what I've heard in the last couple of committee meetings regarding freezing of EI premiums. There are some questions, I think, from some colleagues of mine on the actual stimulus factor or the benefit therein, for either employers or employees. I have a quote here from my former CFO that I'd like to share with my colleagues. It's just on some of the economic stimulus here, maybe, and it goes like this:

In times when our monthly insurance premiums, dental and health, are continually increasing, it's great to hear that our federal government has taken this initiative to hold these costs firm. It helps us free up some budget which could result in part-time or full-time work.

So when we talk about a collaborative and consultative approach to putting together the economic action plan, the freezing of EI premiums most definitely helps corporations as well as the employees, and we know these come directly off employees' paycheques. For that, we are truly thankful.

One of the questions I have for you is about page 2 of the CMHC report, and it's to do with the retrofitting and energy upgrades. It does mention here that provinces and territories will be required to cost-share on a fifty-fifty basis. My question is about the fact that some affordable housing is owned by counties and municipalities. I'm wondering, to circumvent the process, will they be available to cost-share on a 50-50 basis with the federal government? That's my question for you guys.

[Karen Kinsley]

Thank you for the question.

In fact, the requirements under the existing agreements today require that the provinces cost-share. The provinces are able, if there are municipalities that are willing, to allow municipalities to take up a portion of their 50%. However, we do cap that. There are many circumstances today where even when the provinces put in their 50%, as we say, we'll take all comers; so if community groups or municipalities wish to add on to that contribution, we're more than happy, obviously, to accept that in the projects as well.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

That's great to hear.

As a follow-up on that one, on page 3 of that, paragraph 2, we talk about shovel-ready projects in regard to sewers, waterlines, etc. Are these targeted at, again, affordable housing projects--that those dollars will be allocated to bring the water and the sewer to those affordable housing developments?

[Karen Kinsley]

They certainly could, but they're not limited to that. These are the loans that would be made available to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. So as I indicated previously, if there is a social housing project ready to go and they need to avail themselves of the funds for infrastructure and the municipality wanted to borrow the funds for that, certainly that's what this initiative would be available to do. But it would also be available for other housing projects in a market context, where they similarly would need that kind of infrastructure--provided, of course, the municipality was supportive.