Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.
I am pleased to speak today on Bill C-44, a government bill to amend the Employment Insurance Act.
The bill introduced last week is a big step toward addressing the critical situation of Canadian workers, especially those who are working in seasonal industries such as fishing, tourism, transportation, the auto industry, construction and forestry.
As the NDP critic for employment insurance, I welcome this bill, but I am afraid that it does not go far enough for the workers who need help but cannot get any, because some provisions of the Employment Insurance Act make them ineligible for EI benefits.
Looking at the proposed changes, I am very happy to see that the government has finally listened to some of the suggestions made by the opposition. I would like to say a few words about these changes.
The government is abolishing the intensity rule. Claimants will therefore receive 55% of their salary. The benefit repayment provision is being amended; first time claimants will be excluded from this provision.
For those taxpayers with a net income of $48,750, the maximum repayment will be 30% of the net income exceeding $48,750. Canadians receiving sickness, maternity or parental benefits will also be excluded from this provision.
For parents re-entering the labour force following the birth of a second child or who were out of the labour force for an extended period, the retroactive period will be six years.
The premium will be set at $2.25. The maximum insurable earnings will stay at $30,000 until the average salary in industry reaches that amount. After that, the maximum insurable earnings will be set according to the new average salary in industry.
On May 9, 2000, this House voted unanimously in favour of my motion M-222 calling for a review of the employment insurance program, which has been done, according to the government. However, these changes do not totally reflect the unemployment situation.
It would be a great pleasure for me to rise in this House today and to be able to congratulate the government for having finally seen the light. It would be a great pleasure to hear it say how it has made Canadians suffer over the last four years.
When we suggest positive changes, we are told, “What is wrong with these people, they are never happy”. It would have been nice to finally be able to say that we are happy because the changes are going to fundamentally fix employment insurance in Canada.
I took a personal interest in the issue. As many Canadians know, I toured Canada. I visited every province of our country. I went to 22 cities and towns. I took part in over 21 town hall meetings.
From coast to coast to coast, as they say, from Newfoundland to Atlantic Canada to the Pacific, everywhere I went, employment insurance was an issue. Whether in British Columbia, the Madawska, Gaspé or the Acadian peninsula, a lumberjack is a lumberjack.
The member for Calgary—Nose Hill said today in her speech that employment insurance led people not to work and companies not to create jobs. This is wrong, completely wrong. The problem with Alliance members is that they do not understand what seasonal work is all about.
One of my constituents whom I know quite well—I believe he is listening tonight—Jean Gauvin, a former fisheries minister who intends to run for the Canadian Alliance, said last week that he talked to the Leader of the Opposition and that the leader of the Canadian Alliance had told him he was going to make changes to employment insurance. I am afraid, because if he makes changes to the EI program, it will be to tighten it up.
I hope people in my riding are listening to me tonight, so they can really understand what the message of the Canadian Alliance is.
I am sorry to have to say tonight in the House that when it comes to employment insurance, the Canadian Alliance and the Liberals are not much different. It is a pity.
When the government says it is prepared to increase EI benefits by 5%, I will tell members what this means. In the Atlantic provinces, it means that most of the people working in the tourist industry and in the fishery are working for minimum wage, and $5.75 an hour x 50% works out to $2.88 x 5%, or 14 cents an hour x 35 hours, for $4.90 x four weeks, which is not even a $25 increase.
The government has not understood, or does not wish to make real changes. Every time we have risen in the House to ask questions about EI, we have never been given a clear answer. The government has never come out and said that it has hurt Canadians and that it is going to make changes.
The minister has always boasted about her EI cuts “It forces people to get out and work, it forces companies to create jobs. Today, there are fewer people on EI”. This is the same thing we are hearing from the Canadian Alliance. That is why I say today that unfortunately I do not see much of a difference between the two.
As I mentioned earlier, I toured across Canada and I met various people, including Jack McLellan, of Nanaimo, British Columbia, who had this to say:
Last fall, I attended the funeral of a co-worker, Brian Gellhoed, who was a victim of cutbacks in social benefits. Brian committed suicide after his EI ran out. Too proud to sell his home and the personal belongings he had accumulated over his lifetime in order to qualify for social assistance, he preferred to take his own life.
Another individual, a resident of Richibouctou, New Brunswick, told me this during the tour:
I am 22 years of age and I am affected by the cuts. I used to need 20 weeks of work to qualify for benefits. Now, with all the cutbacks and the tighter eligibility criteria, I need 26 weeks of work and I am unable to find anything for that long. My parents have helped me out financially, but they have their own problems. I am not receiving EI and I cannot pay my debts. I need money to live and I do not have a cent in my pockets. I am discouraged and fed up with the system. This morning, I stayed in bed. I seriously contemplated committing suicide and this was not the first time. Employment insurance must be made more accessible for young people and the discriminating criteria must be changed. We young people are discouraged and desperate. We no longer know what to do.
Another person told about a bill introduced by the hon. member for Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, Bill C-493, asking that a worker who voluntarily quits his or her job to care for his or her family get employment insurance benefits.
My time is almost up, but the message that I want to convey is that the change that is needed is the one concerning the number of hours required to get benefits: 420 and 910 hours, this is discrimination against young people. For women going on maternity leave, 600 or 700 hours is too much.
There are no seasonal workers in Canada. There are only seasonal jobs, and workers have no control over them. It is the employers and the government who have control. It is for all these reasons that changes, major changes, are required.