Mr. Speaker, the member opposite asks how I would know. I know quite well that it is extremely important to recognize that employment insurance is not a regional insurance program but a national program for all Canadians. It is there to help the fishers in Newfoundland and on the west coast, the construction workers in Ontario and all those across this great land.
The changes being made in this bill are based on the fact that the changes that were put in place in 1996 were in some instances punitive, although they were not meant to be.
It takes courage for a government to admit its mistakes. The intensity rule reduced EI premiums for repeat claimants from 55% down to 50%. The Liberal government found that eliminating the rule did not significantly change the number of claimants, and so it questioned the benefit of ever having introduced it. The government said that it was punitive to workers who needed the employment insurance fund perhaps more than those in other parts of the country.
Members opposite talk about the economic status of parts of the country. It is true that the economy in some parts of Canada is not as strong as it is in other parts. We have certainly experienced a boom since 1993 when the government came into office. Certainly that has been the case in Ontario. I do not deny that.
We also know there have been problems in the maritimes where employment insurance needs to be adjusted to ensure people in that part of this great country are treated more fairly. We are eliminating the intensity rule. Let us be clear about that. We have said it was punitive and that we put it in for a specific purpose.
I remind members that one of the reasons we put it in place was to stop large corporations such as General Motors, Ford or others, from quite legally using the employment insurance fund as an economic tool. They could shut down the assembly line for weeks while they retooled to switch to another vehicle, simply lay off the workers and allow them to go on UI or EI. Once the retooling was done they could bring the workers back.
We saw that as corporate manipulation of an employment insurance program which was put in place to provide insurance to replace income loss due to job loss. It was not for large corporations to use as an economic tool.
We put it there for a good reason, but recognized that it became punitive to those people who consistently had to rely on employment insurance. Let us also recognize that they continue to pay the premiums. The intensity rule is gone.
Let me talk about the clawback. This is one of the areas where workers in Ontario will benefit most in terms of their income. When workers attain a combined annual family income of a certain level, at income tax time the government starts clawing back the employment insurance benefits they may have received.
When Mr. Mulroney was Prime Minister I believe the level was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $64,000 or $65,000. Workers at that time could be on employment insurance for a couple of months, work for the balance of the year, exceed $65,000, and Revenue Canada at income tax time would claw back their benefits.
It seemed to us that was too high. The changes we made in 1996 reduced it to $48,750, and then again reduced it to $39,000. In some ridings one may be able to live with a family on $39,000 and have EI clawed back although it is not a lot of money. However, if a worker lives in the GTA, works in the construction industry and has an income of $39,000, at which point the government starts clawing back benefits because he or she was unemployed for four weeks or eight weeks or something in that nature, it is definitely too low a threshold.
It was members of this caucus who fought and spoke passionately about returning the clawback level to a more reasonable $48,750, so that if second or third repeat EI claimants are off for a period of time they would see when their incomes exceed $48,750—by the way, first time claimants are exempt from any of this—a clawback of benefits to a maximum of 30% of the income over and above.
It seems to me members opposite, supposed champions of the little guy, should stand and applaud that kind of recognition of economic reality. It is an extremely important position.
I will speak briefly about apprenticeship training. The member for Winnipeg Centre asked the Tories if they would support eliminating the two week waiting period for apprenticeship trainees. I think that makes a lot of sense.
I intend to work at seeing that happen in committee. If it does not happen, we should not throw out the baby with the bath water. We should continue. I believe it is a sound argument and a fair argument because we do not give enough recognition in my view to apprentices.
I had a private member's bill, and the member for Winnipeg Centre had one that mirrored mine, that would have provided national standards for apprenticeship training from sea to sea to sea. We recognize high school diplomas and university degrees anywhere in the country regardless of where they are obtained. We recognize them without a problem.
Why then do we not recognize the qualifications of an apprentice in every corner of Canada? I know we do in some instances. With the red seal program some 44 apprenticeship programs are recognized nationally, but not all of them are covered.
It seemed like a very logical bill that should have been supported by all sides of the House. I really thought there was a chance for unanimity. The problem that arose was that there were two particular parties in the House more dedicated to provincial authority, provincial responsibility and the delivery of programs at the provincial level than they were to supporting national standards.
My bill would not have changed the delivery mechanism for apprenticeship training. In Ontario we have a wonderful system through our community colleges supported by the provincial government. In Ontario we would continue to deliver the apprenticeship funding and the programs at the provincial level, but it would allow for national standards to be put in place that would have no impact on provincial governments.
Unfortunately, the way things work around this place, my bill was not allowed to be votable. It was not allowed on the floor of the House for a vote of all members because the Canadian Alliance and the Bloc had provincialism as their top agenda. They are more concerned about that than they are about nation building.
I challenge every member of the House to strive to help young people, apprentices, to develop. It is fine for us to say that we would like all our kids to be doctors and lawyers, but the reality is that we need plumbers, bricklayers, pipefitters and carpenters. As a matter of fact my youngest son starts a week today as a carpenter's apprentice. We need all those trades to help build the nation. We should be supporting them and we should be proud of them.
In the interest of moving the debate along, I conclude by saying that the government has shown a lot of courage. We have adopted fair wage. I have not heard anyone from the New Democratic Party applaud the government for doing it. A worker's wages can no longer be used as the determining factor in awarding a contract if it is led by the government. We have adopted fair wage as a policy. We have adopted changes to the Income Tax Act that will allow for the tracing of contracts given out so that all the proper taxes are paid, that the unions have a chance to know who is doing the work and where it is being done, and that the workers are being paid properly.
We have also put in place a program of changes to employment insurance. Here is the construction trades list: repeal the intensity rule, which has been done; fix the small weeks problem, which has been done for claimants in some areas; fund apprentices, which has not been done yet; adjust the clawback, which has done and change the re-entrant rules, which has been done.
We are not only listening to the people in the maritimes who rewarded us with a substantial amount of confidence in returning a large number of Liberal Party members to the House of Commons. That should have sent a message to both the New Democrats and the Tories, but apparently they did not get it.
We are progressive. We want these changes to go through. I hope to see additional changes made at committee which will benefit the men and women in the hardworking families that help build this great nation.