Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today to this motion brought forward by the Bloc Quebecois.
Around this time last Monday, the Bloc Quebecois launched the first initiative of employment insurance week, making the whole country aware, among other things, that only one out of every four unemployed young people is entitled to employment insurance benefits. Three out of four young people who have paid contributions cannot receive EI benefits.
The week dedicated to employment insurance also included a public forum and a panel of experts. We saw the impact of that week on parliamentary business. We saw all kinds of statements, particularly by the Minister of Human Resources Development, who said that tightening the requirements was good for young Canadians since it gave them a chance to go back to school. According to him, there is nothing wrong with being strict to the point where people who have contributed to a plan are not entitled to benefits. It is perfectly legal and it actually shows compassion for our young people. We saw the public condemn that statement.
Last week also gave us the opportunity to expose what has been called the employment insurance scandal. We now have the proof we needed. The minister was forced to admit that the billions of dollars paid in employment insurance premiums were not put into a distinct account. Still, it was again pointed out, as it was by the Auditor General of Canada, that there had to be a separate account to ensure that employment insurance was monitored appropriately.
There is no such separate account. The government used the money to reduce the deficit. We understand the deficit did have to be dealt with, but we have understood today as well that this was done at the expense of workers earning less than $39,000 a year, and of the unemployed, whose eligibility for and duration of benefits the Liberals have twice managed to reduce, in both the 1994 and the 1996 reforms.
Late last week, five studies were released on the assessment of the 1994 reform, and these were not carried out by Bloc Quebecois experts or by experts wishing to express their opinions but by experts on the government payroll.
Among other things, these studies addressed the consequences on long term employment. Part of the conclusion states “It seems therefore that Bill C-17 has attained its objective, which is to reduce the eligibility for benefits of those who are eligible but have spent little time in the workforce”.
These conclusions are an admission that the objective was to decrease eligibility for employment insurance benefits for seasonal workers and others with similar jobs.
Another finding of the study addressed the duration of the lost employment and the eligibility for employment insurance. According to the expert, “Workers in high unemployment provinces, the Atlantic provinces in particular, and Quebec to some extent, or high unemployment industries, such as the primary and construction sectors, are far more prone to job loss. A randomly selected worker in these provinces or industries could expect to lose far more in weekly benefits than a worker from any other region in Canada, as a result of Bill C-17”.
Those choices were deliberate. They knew the consequences would be lower benefits to the unemployed, and even less employment.
Another study on the duration of unemployment benefits was released at the same time.
It compared two groups: that of 1993 and that of 1995. It said that belonging to the 1995 group increased one's chances of getting off unemployment, resulting in a significant decrease in duration. Right after the election campaign, the Prime Minister said “We are going to set aside all the Progressive Conservative reforms and start treating people properly again”.
He did not say it verbally. It appeared in a letter that pointed out, in so many words, that, under a Liberal government, they would not treat people that way any more. Yet, less than three months after the election, they passed a law that was even tougher, even more restrictive than everything the Progressive Conservatives had done before them. It was the GST all over again.
That is why people are angry today. People throughout Canada are angry; those affected by the cuts resulting from the 1994 reform are angry, but not as angry as those affected by the cuts resulting from the 1996 reform, because the same implacable logic is at work.
In 1994 the government said it was going to limit duration of benefits. It then realized that this was not enough to wring a bit more out of unemployed workers. In the 1996 reform, it decided to come at it from the eligibility angle. This was when it brought in the 910 hours for someone entering the job market.
A young person must work 26 35-hour weeks or, and this is to be found nowhere, 62 15-hour weeks. Only the Liberals have a 62-week year. These young people have no other way of qualifying. That is the direct reason why only one young person in four qualifies for EI.
We are therefore looking at two Liberal reforms that have had a major negative impact. The weekend editorial in the Nouvelliste said, and I quote: “There is no shame in changing course when it is clear that our policies are not producing the effects we thought they would. Minister Martin announced that his old age pension reform would be reworked, because it became clear that it was going to penalize those who are setting money aside for their later years. The time has now come to re-assess the EI policy. Otherwise, this week's discontent, which goes well beyond Quebec's borders, could turn into a time bomb for the Liberals”.
I think the judgment that was passed reflects the reality. Last year, on election night, almost one full year ago, the federal Liberals received a clear message both from Atlantic Canada and from the Quebec regions, who harshly criticized the reforms to employment insurance. Last week, particularly when judgment was passed on this issue, all Canadians clearly expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the funds are currently managed and stated that the government must react.
I would like to conclude by quoting an expert in this field, Mr. Marc Van Audenrode, who co-wrote the study that demonstrated that reforms to employment insurance push people onto welfare. This morning, this author pointed out, among other things, that Canada used to have one of the most generous employment insurance schemes among OECD countries. Nowadays, our system is not as generous as the average program provided by OECD countries or by our competitors in New England. It is about as generous as the program in Alabama.
We live in a parliamentary system. We have a government of Canada. The duty of this government is not only to look through the window to see if the economy is growing. Its duty is to ensure that wealth is adequately distributed. It has to realize that an adequate employment insurance program is the best way to ensure that people do not end up unemployed and on welfare.
Given the situation, the federal government must quickly go back to the drawing board. We offer the government our cooperation through the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities or in any other way. The government should consider our six bills and come up with a concrete proposal, because we cannot afford to wait any longer.