Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to join in the debate with respect to the bill, which is designed to improve our employment insurance program so that it will be of more help to unemployed people. Like my colleague from Oak Ridges who spoke earlier, I will focus my attention on the parts of the bill that actually deal with families.
I think you know, Mr. Speaker, that this government has focused attention on children and families from when it was first elected in 1993. In fact, in the depths of the budget cutting exercise that we went through, new money was being flowed into prenatal and post-natal programs and into support for children. In my own riding for example, the family enrichment centre, which is now the family resource centre, received considerable new funds in those times, so the government has a record of supporting children and strengthening families. This is the sort of investment which, by the way, is even more valuable in difficult times because it allows us to invest truly in the future, our children.
In this case with respect to EI, there are a number of important changes that affect families. Already in terms of supporting children we have created the national child benefit, one of the most innovative new federal-provincial-territorial programs of the last few decades, which is aimed directly at fighting child poverty. I think members on all sides of the House agree it is something which we must tackle at this time. In terms of the EI legislation, that child benefit helps parents stay in the labour market while they are bringing up their children.
We have improved benefits and services for low income families with children. We have reduced the barriers that many low income families face in moving from social assistance to the workforce. Particularly in Ontario there are these serious barriers with this discrimination against families on social assistance, particularly when they get to the point where they can move into low paying positions so they can move up the wage scale.
The child benefit is increasing federal benefits to children by $1.7 billion a year for low income families. This means better food, clothing and shelter for children in those families. It also means a better and fairer chance for those children.
To make sure that we can do an even better job in helping children break out of the cycle of poverty, we will provide a third significant investment in the national child benefit by the year 2001. This means that by 2004 the maximum benefit received by a low income family will increase to $2,400 for the first child and $2,200 for each other child.
Parents in a two child family, by the year 2004, could receive up to $4,600 to assist them in bringing up their children. Many other programs are also helping Canadian families. In this case, the EI program has a role to play. We are talking about families and keeping the parents in the workforce or, when they are out of the workforce, allowing them to get back into the workforce as effectively as possible.
One measure is the family supplement, which tops up benefits to a maximum of 80% for claimants in low income families with children. Again the emphasis is on families with children.
As of December 31, 2000, we enhanced EI parental benefits to provide parents with the flexibility to spend more time with their young children during the crucial early years of life.
The proposed changes in the bill to the EI program will take us one step further by providing more money to the families of claimants and fixing some of the problem areas that Canadians have identified in the EI program.
We have learned that the intensity rule, which was designed to reduce reliance on EI and increase incentives to work, simply has not proved to be effective. The intensity rule reduced repeat claimants' benefit rates by one percentage point for each 20 weeks of benefits claimed in the past five years. This feature has not discouraged the repeated use of EI benefits in part because many workers in areas of high unemployment simply cannot find other jobs in the off season.
The bill before us proposes to eliminate the intensity rule altogether. I campaigned on that and I support it. This does not mean that we accept high unemployment levels in the communities concerned. Our challenge is to work together with the provinces and territories, business groups and community leaders to come up with local solutions that will expand working opportunities in areas of high unemployment.
Canadians have also told us that the clawback sometimes reduces the benefits of middle income clients. When this happens it means that money is taken away from many families for whom money is tight. The bill proposes to raise the net income level at which the clawback applies to repeat claimants from $39,000 to $48,750. In future only high income Canadians will face any repayment of employment benefits. This will provide relief to middle income earners who are temporarily unemployed.
Canadians also told us that it was not fair to claw back the benefits of people who are too sick to work or who want to take time off with their newborn or newly adopted child. The bill would exempt those collecting maternity, parental and sickness benefits from having to repay any benefits.
A number of parents returning to work after caring for young children also told us that the current EI provisions dealing with re-entrance make it hard for them to qualify for regular benefits. Consequently the bill would create a level playing field by extending the so-called look back period for re-entrant parents by four years. This means that claimants who have received EI, maternity or parental benefits in the four years prior to the current two year look back, will require the same number of hours as other claimants to be eligible for regular benefits. This is only fair.
This change makes particularly good sense in the light of the government's commitment to families with children through initiatives, such as the extension of parental benefits, which are designed to help parents balance the demands of work and the demands of family while their children are very young.
It should also be noted that as a part of the bill we propose to modify the fishing regulations to ensure that self-employed fishers can take advantage of the enhanced maternity, parental and sickness benefits. This measure would be retroactive to December 31, 2000, the same date the enhancements came into effect for other EI claimants.
Many parents told us that they wanted the EI premium rates to be kept at a moderate level so that they could keep more of the pay they earn to buy the necessities of life. Accordingly the premium rate has been reduced by 15 cents from $2.40 in 2000 to $2.25 in 2001. This is the seventh consecutive reduction in premiums, resulting in billions of dollars in savings for workers and their families.
Taken together I believe these changes represent good news for a large number of EI claimants and their families. They leave more money in the pockets of families. They will protect first time special benefits and middle income EI claimants from having to repay their benefits. They will also support the critical transition back to the labour force for parents who take time out to take care of their children.
Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure for me to address you for the first time. I congratulate you on your appointment, and I intend to support the legislation.