Mr. Speaker, on January 30, I raised a question to the Minister of Employment and Social Development concerning the destructive impact the Conservative attack on rural and regional unemployed was having on Prince Edward Island.
The question I asked was direct and it was specific:
—government policy should enhance job growth and improve income. However, in the P.E.I. seasonal economy EI is having the opposite impact. Take a farmer's seasonal employee for example, who is needed only a day and a half a week at this time of year and paid $16 an hour. After deductions and the EI clawback of 50¢ on every dollar, the employee is left with less than $6 an hour. The employee is poorer and the farmer has trouble attracting employees. It is starting an underground economy. Will the minister stop inflicting this economic hardship and reconsider the policy?
Rather than respond to the concerns that were raised, concerns which come from my constituents and Islanders generally, the minister actually told the House that employment insurance contributed to neither economic growth or to higher standards of living.
That kind of arrogance would be unbelievable, but indeed that was the response I received from a minister of the Conservative government. EI does contribute to the economic growth in many of the rural communities on Prince Edward Island, throughout Atlantic Canada and indeed across the whole of Canada.
Those receiving EI benefits do not transfer that money to offshore accounts. They spend that money on food, utility bills, and children's clothing, and retailers benefit from their business.
The question remains, how does the minister respond to the reality that the clawback provisions that he and his government have instituted actually take money directly out of the pockets of those finding work while on employment insurance claims. That is what is happening. It is taking money directly out of the pockets of the seasonally employed.
The example I have stated is not an academic exercise. Workers throughout the region are having their monies clawed back, leaving them in serious financial difficulty. They are skilled seasonal workers who are important to our seasonal businesses and our seasonal economy.
The government's response to set up two EI regions within Prince Edward Island has hurt those seasonal workers even more seriously.
In total, the government's decision on just the clawback alone takes $2.4 million out of the pockets of seasonal workers this year, and about a little over $3 million next year. That is the estimate. That is the impact on the total economy, and the impact on workers is very serious.
Therefore, my question remains, is the government prepared to eliminate the clawback provisions in order to ensure that not only are those seeking work but those seeking available local workers can achieve their goals?