Finance committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting us to speak to you today. My testimony will be solely about the part of the budget implementation Bill C-38 that deals with employment insurance. Mr. Chair, I must tell you that we hesitated a little before accepting this invitation because we are very well aware, as is everyone here, that Bill C-38 is going to be passed anyway.

Human Resources committee  In terms of qualifications, would that mean they have more rights? The answer is no, their rights would be equivalent to those of other workers in the following way. There is a qualifying period that precedes the application for EI benefits. Let us take the example of a labour dispute that has ended.

Human Resources committee  I have discussed this with others who have expertise as regards the application of the Employment Insurance Act. Based on the current wording, Bill C-395 would not provide for an extension longer than 104 weeks, because the qualifying period has not been redefined. In our opinion, there is a difference between adding a new reason, under subsection 8(2), whereby the qualifying period could be extended—in this case, a labour dispute—and going so far as to redefine the qualifying period in exceptional cases.

Human Resources committee  Madam Chair, I am going to take over now, as this is a brief presented jointly by the FTQ and the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses. I would like to draw your attention to the second paragraph of Bill C-395. In our opinion, this second provision, which is intended to provide for an extension greater than the current maximum of 104 weeks, cannot apply unless “qualifying period” is redefined.

Human Resources committee  I could read you an excerpt of the letter from Minister Sam Hamad.

Human Resources committee  In general, the system must be unlocked. An editorialist for the daily newspaper La Presse, Mario Roy, concluded his editorial last year by saying that the employment insurance system must be unlocked. In other words, the issue of eligibility must be settled, because many people are currently not entitled to benefits.

Human Resources committee  I'm not sure I understood the question. In Quebec, we have a parental insurance plan. It's not a question of accumulating working hours in order to be eligible—we're fairly modern in that regard—but rather a minimum income of $2,000 during the qualifying period. As concerns the issue of parental and maternity benefits, I would say we've settled it.

Human Resources committee  The time which has just been used up for this exchange has been deducted from my seven minutes.

Human Resources committee  Madam Chair, are you telling me that I have 1 minute and 23 seconds left?

Human Resources committee  We were talking about thwarting democracy. That is exactly what happens when a minority government breaks the Canadian social contract. For example, six administrators are appointed to the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board, which was created in 2008. In order to respect the Canadian social contract, there should have been two workers' representatives, but that did not happen.

Human Resources committee  I only want to add one more sentence. It is up to a responsible government to ensure that the employment insurance program does precisely that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Human Resources committee  Madam Chair, if I understand correctly, we have seven minutes.

Human Resources committee  Madam Chair, members of the committee, Mr. Lessard, sponsor of the bill, I would like to thank you on behalf of our organization, the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses for this invitation to share our views on Bill C-308. Indeed, there are two representatives from the Conseil national des chômeurs.

Human Resources committee  The government and the political parties represented in Canada's Parliament are going to have to give very serious thought to the entire employment insurance system, and not on a piecemeal basis but in terms of in-depth reform. We need to create a simpler, better employment insurance system, one that meets the needs of Canadians.

Human Resources committee  The issue of administrative delays relates to the internal organization of HRSDC in regional branches, meaning at a provincial level. There is a lack of organization. Too many jobs were cut to allow staff to process claims quickly. It is a matter of administrative organization.