The National Council of Unemployed Workers (NCUW) is disappointed with the lack of new concrete measures on Employment Insurance (EI) in the federal budget.
“EI reform seems to be pushed back again. We’ve said it many times: EI has been significantly undermined over the past decades, and the COVID-19 crisis has made this clear,” said Pierre Céré, spokesperson for the NCUW.
The NCUW believes that the Employment Insurance program must be modernized to better respond to the different realities of workers, such as precarious employment, but also to provide a more equitable and fairer social safety net. There is currently a broad social consensus that agrees that a permanent reform is needed, expanding coverage and improving protections.
“The Minister has been mandated to implement an EI reform plan by summer 2022, with the temporary measures in the program ending in the fall. The clock is ticking. We expected a concrete announcement. This is not the case,” continued Pierre Céré. “Are we postponing the reform until the next budget, in 2023, or worse?”
“We are perplexed by what we might call the mismatch between the government’s commitments and, on the other hand, its actions. While Employment and Social Development Canada, responsible for the EI program, is doing a serious job of consulting and preparing a reform, we are wondering if the government’s intent is still there and if the government is still making it one of its priorities.”
While the budget contains some interesting progressive commitments, at the same time, the Minister of Finance announces that she will “review and reduce government spending because it is the responsible thing to do”.
“We are concerned,” concluded Pierre Céré.