Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern about seasonal workers. Every year, their own government puts them in a precarious position.
Once again this winter, benefits will dry up for over 16,000 people, 40% of them in Quebec, leaving them without an income for up to four long months. Thousands of families will once again have no money coming in.
The Liberal government seems fond of half-measures, in this case a pilot project targeting just 13 economic regions. Baby steps and band-aid solutions will not fix this Canada-wide crisis.
The people of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot are once again being left out in the cold because they are, once again, not covered under this pilot project.
Every year, the government fails to fully commit, and so, every year, thousands of families go many long months with no money coming in. That puts breadwinners under intense stress. They cannot feed their families because of the spring gap.
Tying employment insurance benefits to unemployment rates means that some seasonal workers have to work a lot more to receive much less in benefits. People are worried—terrified, even—about not being able to feed their families because they will no longer have an income when their EI benefits run out.
The EI spring gap is a fundamental problem that cannot be fixed with band-aid solutions. Urgent action is needed, because thousands of families are being left out in the cold and are falling through the cracks without any income for months.
Business owners in Saint-Hyacinthe tell me their concerns about these seasonal workers. Seeing his employees struggling financially, one of the owners decided to provide loans to ensure that certain employees did not lose their homes and were able to support their children. These loans enable the employees to survive, but they also mean that the employer can count on these skilled workers when seasonal work resumes.
The NDP is fighting for a fundamental reform of the EI system, which is too flawed. This system is the result of bad choices over more than 20 years of successive Liberal and Conservative governments.
The NDP, along with unions and advocacy groups for the unemployed, has been trying to convince the government to reform this system. However, the government's idea of helping Canadians is to rely on band-aid solutions, instead of taking meaningful action.
We absolutely need emergency legislation, since time is running out for all these seasonal workers facing the threat of the spring gap at the end of the winter.
To the NDP, it is unthinkable to put thousands of workers in a precarious position when a simple legislative change is all that is needed to help these seasonal workers.
The NDP's solution to the spring gap is simple and fair: better access to EI for everyone, a universal eligibility threshold of 360 hours, and the reinstatement of five weeks of additional benefits for all seasonal workers.
A comprehensive solution must be applied to fix the spring gap once and for all. This is an urgent issue, and Band-Aid solutions only put off the problem.
No more half measures. The government must make long-term investments to overhaul the EI system.