Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise to speak to an important issue.
Employment insurance has been a great benefit to people who find themselves in difficult situations when they have to change occupations. Quite often they are not doing it on a voluntary basis but because of a shift in industry, a decrease in demand for a product that ultimately leads to layoffs and, in some situations, individuals being fired.
We need to reflect on what we are trying to achieve here today. We in the Liberal Party are open in principle to the idea of an extension of parental benefits. To that degree, we are prepared to allow the bill to go to committee and see what others have to say. We will listen and hopefully even improve the bill, or pass final judgment in third reading. However, at the very least, let us see it get out of second reading.
Employment insurance was created a number of years ago, back in the 1940s. Prior to that, the provinces were responsible for providing for the unemployed. In fact, it took a constitutional change, which ultimately empowered Ottawa. It was a Liberal administration back then that sought and was successful at getting the constitutional change necessary for Ottawa to establish a national unemployment program.
We did not stop there. Unemployment insurance provided some very basic dollar amounts, and it would have been basic at that time. Through the years there has been a great deal of consideration of how we could expand the program, dating all the way back to virtually when it was first brought into existence. Today we are talking about the potential of increasing parental benefits with Bill C-464, but it was about 40 years ago, back in the 1970s, when Pierre Trudeau actually brought in maternity benefits in recognition that there is value in providing employment insurance for individuals who have to leave the workforce to have a child. That was a fairly bold move back around 1970 or 1971.
There have been other areas where we have seen employment changes and enhancements. In the last federal election, I recall knocking on doors and talking with people on the issue of employment insurance, primarily because we in the Liberal Party were talking during the election about using employment insurance to provide for different types of care situations.
For example, quite often there is a need for direct care for a parent or close family member who is terminally ill. In situations like that, are there things we could do within the employment insurance programs to allow that to take place?
It is not strictly a cost, in the sense of money going out of the employment insurance program; it is about the quality of life. It is about allowing families to be together during difficult times. Quite often when we do something of that nature, we save at the other end, because then the need for other health care services is greatly diminished. Health care services are very expensive, especially for people who require home care services. Because no one in their immediate family is able to be with them in their homes, quite often they will end up in palliative care units in a hospital or long-term care facility, which is exceptionally expensive.
When we talk about how employment insurance can be utilized to compensate individuals who are not able to work for a good reason, we should, at the very least, be open to that idea.
The support the Liberal Party is providing on this bill by encouraging members to allow it to go to committee will ultimately allow a healthy discussion at the committee level. For example, to what degree can employment insurance be used as a tool to compensate individuals who have been in the workforce and for a good reason need to be taken out of the workforce for a relatively short period of time? I would welcome the opportunity to hear what other members have to say.
One of the speakers on the bill indicated that we should try to narrow it so that it would apply strictly to people who find themselves unemployed because they have been fired or laid off. Maybe that is all that speaker feels anyone should be entitled to.
I would have to disagree. I believe that in a number of situations within our community or within our workforce, we should be open to allowing an individual to stay home from work for a short period of time and not have to fear not having the income necessary to sustain himself or herself in the short term. The best way to achieve that is through the employment insurance program.
No political party owns all the good ideas out there, but I would suggest that if we allow it to go to committee, we might hear what different stakeholders believe on this issue of the extension of parental benefits. There could be other things that would come out of it. That is the reason I think it would be of great benefit to allow the bill to get to committee stage.
As I indicated to the constituents I represent, I believe in social programs that are effective in improving the life standard of all Canadians. The employment insurance program has a critical role going forward, as it has in the past, but we should be looking for creative ideas going forward to enable people to be off work and not have to worry about their household income. That is the reason we should be looking at it.
Michael Ignatieff, the former leader of the Liberal Party, talked in a very passionate way about caring for family members. I believe the idea of allowing individuals the opportunity to be with close family members was very well received by most Canadians.
The other issue is in regard to the number of hours one has to put in to qualify. In 2000, the Liberal government increased parental benefits to 35 weeks from 10 weeks and reduced the hours of eligibility from 700 to 600, allowing more parents to spend more time caring for their children without having to worry about the loss of income from not being employed.
The bottom line is this: let us see the bill go to committee. Let us allow for presentations on the idea of how parental benefits could be further enhanced. If it makes sense in the committee, I suspect we will have a better chance of getting support at third reading.