Human Resources Committee on Oct. 6th, 2009

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Do you already know who these people are? It is not as if you did not know them. It looks very easy, because thanks to the computer program, apparently, you would punch one key on the keyboard in November and everything would get done.

[Paul Thompson]

They must be advised by letter that their status has expired. Perhaps then another kind of program would be used at the provincial level. The longer the period, the more complicated things get.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I would like to have some things explained. We all read the news in the newspaper and we watch television. It is as if Quebec were the only province in Canada to be excluded from this. However, I believe that there is also an economic crisis in Quebec, just as there is one here.

You said that you sent letters out to people regarding the five extra weeks. Thus, we should already know if Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will take advantage of them.

Why could we not say that things are about the same everywhere with regard to the number of people? It seems to me that you can explain that, because the letters have already been sent out. I am sure that Human Resources and Skills Development Canada knows to whom the letters were sent and in what provinces.

[Paul Thompson]

Yes, that's right. One thing that we cannot do is to divide the projections over the 19 months that the measures will last. It is difficult to do this without a projection of the unemployment rate for each region etc.

However, it is true that we now have a list that gives the names of individuals who received a letter from Service Canada, and the distribution was made in proportion with the labour market.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

You are saying that it is distributed in proportion to the labour market and that each province will have its fair share. In fact, this has to do with workers and not provinces, because the workers are the ones who lost their jobs.

[Paul Thompson]

Yes. For example, beneficiaries in Quebec province received 24% of the letters, which corresponds to 23% of the labour market. The distribution of these letters is proportional to—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Twenty-four per cent went to Quebec. Comparatively, in Canada, this is one province out 10, including the territories. As the beneficiaries in Quebec received 24% of the letters, it means that those people could be eligible.

[Paul Thompson]

Yes, the distribution is made in proportion to—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

With regard to the 190,000 unemployed people that you mentioned, was this figure determined before the famous so-called five extra weeks? The prevailing conditions in the spring are not the prevailing conditions for this autumn. Have you calculated the percentage of difference? Do you have these figures at hand or are you relying on the old figures?

[Louis Beauséjour]

We are relying on the old figures. We did not adjust them because it was very difficult to find out what proportion of long-tenured workers would exhaust their benefits. As for the people who are eligible for five weeks, we have already granted them more than four by now. We suppose that the rate would remain steady.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Do those figures include severance pay? Would it be something like parental leave or maternal leave or sick leave? This has to do with long-tenured workers. After applying the five-week measure, do you consider the fact that long-tenured workers probably received some severance pay?

[Paul Thompson]

The eligibility of a person who has received severance pay is based on the date of the claim.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

If the severance pay amounts to 10 weeks of pay, for example, the calculations will be based on the date of the employment insurance claim. This means that the person will not be penalized.

[Louis Beauséjour]

As we said, people who are eligible for these measures are all those who have filed an employment insurance claim after January 4.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Let us suppose that I worked for a company, that I was laid off on January 6 and that I subsequently filed a claim for employment insurance. I was told that I could get severance pay equivalent to 20 weeks of pay so that I would not be entitled to employment insurance for these 20 weeks, although I would be eligible for benefits during the 45 or 50 following weeks. Would I be eligible for benefits after that?

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

We're over time, but I want you to answer the question and we'll wrap up with that and move on to the next question.

[Louis Beauséjour]

The bill provides for a longer period of benefits that takes into account the extra benefits. We should verify whether the reception of severance pay would extend the period of benefits. Generally, people have a maximum of 104 weeks to claim their benefits.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

This is important. It would have an impact on the numbers.

[Louis Beauséjour]

Yes, I will have to send you some information about the interaction between these two factors.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

We're pretty much done with the questions now. I know Mike wanted to asked another follow-up, and we do have a little bit of time here.

So Mike and Mr. Lessard, we'll have a couple of quick questions from both you guys.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you very much.

Is there any labour market implication to this measure?

[Paul Thompson]

I wonder if you could clarify that.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Labour market implication in terms of whether this will affect who's going to work and when they'll go to work. You talked about labour market implications for other EI measures. The fact that they're going to 360 hours, the government suggested, would increase unemployment by 2%.

[Paul Thompson]

This is a temporary measure, and as such, we wouldn't expect there to be any permanent impact on the labour market. It has a gradual phasing out of the measure. It's being provided to people at a pretty challenging time in terms of the economy, and we expect there would be take-up.