Evidence of meeting #10 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fishing.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
I'm not saying that there wasn't an impact, in practical terms. What I'm saying is few people were disqualified for refusing to accept employment.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
I'm very happy to hear you say so because it's not often that we have heard that from you. You mentioned protests and the like, but that doesn't quite mean the same thing, does it?
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
No, not quite. In fact, we believe the provisions in the act and regulations may have been applied with less rigour than expected. Be that as it may, the substance of the legislation remains. Even though it hasn't done so thus far, should the Employment Insurance Commission wish to enforce the provisions to the letter, it can.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
The act was in force and people were subject to it. It had been applied for more than a year, and you are telling me that few people were affected.
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
It's what the data shows. In actual fact—
Conservative
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
That's what the data shows as regards the refusal to accept suitable employment.
But changes in people's behaviour were not measured. Some people opted not to apply for benefits rather than deal with the conditions imposed, mainly being required to accept any employment that paid only 70% of what they were earning previously. Some preferred to forgo EI benefits rather than file a claim under those conditions. And those changes in behaviour have not been measured up to this point.
As far as claimants being penalized is concerned, however, few cases were in fact reported, on a practical level.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
That's what I thought I heard you say, but I wanted you to confirm it for me, since it's not something you've often said in the last year.
Now I'd like to pick up on another point to make sure I'm clear on it. You said that 350 hours or 13 weeks would be enough.
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
I'm not saying it's enough. It's actually an eligibility threshold. We believe that 350 hours or 13 weeks would constitute a reasonable eligibility threshold.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
It would be a reasonable threshold to access EI benefits.
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
It would suffice in order to qualify for EI benefits, yes.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
That would mean that someone who worked for three months would receive EI benefits for a year. Is that correct?
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
That's correct. It may not actually be for an entire year, though.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
You think it's reasonable for someone to spend three months working and then be eligible to receive EI benefits for a year?
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
The number of weeks would depend on what the person earned.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
That's more or less what 13 weeks would amount to.
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
I'm sorry. What do you mean?
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Someone who worked for 13 weeks would then qualify to receive 52 weeks of EI benefits, would they not?
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
It doesn't mean the person would be eligible to receive 52 weeks of benefits. Other factors would determine how long the person would receive benefits for. We are asking for a minimum floor of 35 weeks of benefits. We think that would be a reasonable amount of time.
Liberal
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Thank you.
Thank you to each of you for being here. My question is going to evolve around something that each of you mentioned, and that's the SST.
That was established in 2013, and then there was a backlog from the former appeal boards, those being the board of referees and the office of the umpire. The number I have is that as of December 31, 2015, there were 1,741 appeals that had not been concluded.
My question evolves around the effectiveness of the SST, so I'd like to pose that to each of you for a brief answer.
Ms. Arruda, I'd like to start with you. You actually mentioned in your statements that you're advocating for the abolition of the SST. Is that correct?
Okay, so I'm going to come back to you and give you more time. It's fair to say that you do not support the system and you think it should be abolished. Is that accurate?
Coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (réseau québécois)
Exactly.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Okay, very good.
Mr. MacPherson, you mentioned there are challenges to have your case reviewed. Can you very briefly tell me what you think the effectiveness of the SST system is?
Executive Director, Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association
I think I should clarify that a little more fully.
I think what would be more appropriate is that we feel this is an appropriate time to do a review of that particular system and to assess its effectiveness. From our particular standpoint with our membership, we haven't a lot of cases that have gone to the tribunal, so I really can't comment on that specifically.
