Mr. Speaker, unfortunately this has eaten into my time, and I will do my best to squeeze what I should have had into a shorter time period. I would, if time allowed, be sharing my time with the member for Regina—Lewvan, but it is sounding as if we have been cut short, sadly. I would have loved to have heard him.
Statistics Canada has reported that in 2015 Alberta lost 51,000 full-time jobs, the worst loss since the 1982 recession. Alberta's unemployment rate has almost doubled to over 7% and the layoffs have continued, in large part in the resource sector. A huge majority of these are well-paid professional jobs impacting middle-class families. The number of Albertans receiving EI has doubled in just one year from more than 31,000 to more than 62,000.
The very purpose of employment insurance is to assist workers who have paid into the program when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Regrettably, over several terms of Liberal and Conservative governments, changes have been made not to the obligation to pay into EI but rather to limit access to the funds. We have been told that only four out of 10 workers who pay into the system are qualified to file claims.
In a letter to the Minister of Finance, Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, pointed out that only 37% of employed Albertans qualify for EI benefits. Alberta workers must work 630 hours to qualify, compared to 420 hours in Newfoundland and Labrador. It may be noted that both regions are experiencing significant job losses in the resource sector. Mr. McGowan also expressed concern that over the past decade accessibility by Canadian workers to EI benefits declined from 50% to 38%. He reminded the minister that the Liberals campaigned promising EI reforms and respectfully suggested that unemployed Canadians cannot wait a year for a review.
As my colleague, the MP for Trois-Rivières, pointed out, surely no one in this place would agree that only four out of 10 Canadians should qualify for universal health insurance. Then why support that only a small percentage who pay into EI can claim? He also reminded us of past misappropriations of the EI fund to pay down deficits.
Employment insurance has historically offered greater benefits to the jobless in the most economically challenged regions. Benefits have been less generous to workers in Alberta or Ontario, who were prospering. There is growing support for reform of the program to establish a single, universal, national standard for access to claims.
During the election, the Liberals committed to support this change and now say they are studying the program. We prefer an action verb. However, increased access to workers, including those hard hit in Alberta with the massive cuts in the resource sector, could easily be expedited in advance of a complete overhaul of the system.
As pointed out in a recent Globe and Mail editorial, quick action was taken in 2009 in response to that economic crisis. Why not now? In response to the significant downturn in Alberta's economy, both Alberta's Premier Notley and Edmonton's Mayor Iveson called on the government to intervene to revise EI eligibility rules to ensure more equitable access by unemployed Alberta workers.
The premier has requested the government to make two adjustments to the EI program: one, offer a longer period of EI benefits for Alberta workers; two, require a shorter period of eligibility for Alberta workers in line with other Canadian workers.
Mayor Iveson, in a February 16 letter to the finance minister, raised concerns with the current eligibility rules. He said that regime places the unemployed in our city at a considerable disadvantage in accessing the EI program and exacerbates the personal and social distress associated with job loss.
I received a letter today from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which told me that its younger members are experiencing extended periods of unemployment previously unheard of, and they are struggling to make ends meet. An immediate extension of EI benefits and a lowering of the eligibility hours in Alberta would certainly help in relieving stress and anxiety, not to mention increased divorce and family breakdowns.
This is a serious matter requiring action. Yes, some new jobs have been created, but by and large, they have been part-time positions paying minimum wage. As my colleagues have pointed out, part-time employment creates a major disadvantage for workers in accumulating working hours. This must be considered.
Would Alberta workers, like all Canadian workers, prefer a job? Absolutely, they would. Are they welcoming the promised infusion of dollars for infrastructure and housing projects? Yes, they are. However, in the meanwhile, federal action is needed to address the inequity in accessing EI and the distress for families who have been laid off through no fault of their own.
In summation, we have heard all throughout this debate today that the Liberal government is thinking, consulting, and proposing to bring forward a reform of EI sometime in the future. However, at this very moment we have workers across this country, and certainly also in my province of Alberta, who are suffering through no fault of their own. Many of them have been working in the resource sector, which has been filling the coffers of the federal and provincial governments across this country.
My premier, my mayor, the workers of Alberta, and I think that it is time for the government to step forward and take expeditious action with respect to Alberta workers. They have worked hard and have contributed for many years to the EI fund, and they deserve a break, as occurred in 2009.
