Thank you for those very important questions.
Around the hours question, even though technically EI eligibility is determined by the number of hours, think about even the 420 hours to qualify. That translates into a worker having to work a full 35 hours a week, uninterrupted, for three full months. To be honest, and this is especially true in urban centres for temp agency workers, there are, as the saying goes, more temp agencies in the GTA than there are Tim Hortons. This gives a sense of what's possible and what's not possible. Imagine retail; the average workweek is 28 hours. You can see how long it would take for consistent employment for workers to access the program they need when they have an interruption in earnings.
Reducing the hours is extremely important. We can see what would have happened in the COVID crisis had we not reduced hours to 120. Our committee is recommending that we reduce the hours to 360 hours or 12 weeks, whichever is best, in order to be in keeping with the realities of today's labour market. People might work for six weeks and then have an interruption. They might work for another month and then have an interruption. They might not get 28 hours a week. This is the reality of today's labour market. It helps explain why so many people aren't accessing EI when they need it.
Again, on the question of quits and fires, it's absolutely true that we need just-cause protection to prevent arbitrary decisions by employers. Let's also talk about the conditions that exist that cause workers to feel like they need to leave their job and find another job. As I said, there's racism in the workplace. Sometimes an employer will change the schedule and it's just incompatible with that worker's child care responsibilities. Sometimes there are health and safety issues. For people who work at Amazon warehouses, their bodies wear out. There are legitimate reasons people quit their jobs, and sometimes they have to do it very quickly.
Therefore, yes, we should get rid of these arbitrary rules and make sure EI is there for workers when they need it.
Thank you so much for the important questions.