Green Party Supports EI Reforms Proposed by Government

OTTAWA--The Green Party is encouraged that further EI reforms have been proposed and hopes they are also passed into law this fall.

“Although some economic indicators are up, we are still in a serious situation with unemployment,” said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. “Some of this is fallout from the global recession, but much of it reflects long-term changes to the economy, with permanent losses to manufacturing jobs and changes in how the job market functions,” she added.

The new proposals would allow the self-employed to voluntarily access the system to pay premiums and receive benefits, including parental leave. “Self-employment is a growing phenomenon, and we need to adapt our social safety net to better accommodate it,” May stated. “Major economic shifts to deal with high-priced energy and strict emission limits will require a lot of entrepreneurial activity and new startups, so we must have programs that foster such initiative,” she continued, “or we will lose out on potential advances due to fear of risk.”

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins, the Green Party’s Critic for Ecological Fiscal Reform, expressed some concerns related to EI budgeting. “Human Resources Minister Finley has indicated that she plans to raise EI premium rates in coming years, increasing costs for workers and employers,” he warned. “It should be obvious that we need to lower employment costs and payroll taxes, not raise them,” Jacoby-Hawkins stated. The Green Party’s own budget plan would reduce the deficit and pay down debt while shifting taxes off payrolls and onto pollution and carbon emissions. This would make hiring more affordable, increasing jobs while encouraging innovation and efficiency. “Canada can once again build an economy based on using our skills and knowledge to add value, rather than relying mainly on cheap resources for other countries to process,” he declared, adding “a revenue-neutral tax shift accomplishes this without adding to the deficit or debt.”

The Green Party is very concerned that past surpluses, paid by workers, are still being swallowed up into general revenues, a practice initiated by the Liberal government and continued under the Conservatives. “We accept the principle that, as an insurance program, EI should be self-financing, with an appropriate safety margin” stated Ard Van Leeuwen, the Green Party’s Finance Critic. “However, the accumulated surplus of around $57 billion has still not been expended,” he observed, “and that should be fully applied toward EI benefits before rates rise.” Van Leeuwen added, “balancing the budget on the backs of workers by prematurely raising EI premiums shows bad faith and bad budgeting on the part of Finance Minster Flaherty.” The Green Party would not use EI surpluses to pay for programs other than EI-related benefits.

“I hope that the members of our minority parliament can again work together to get these needed improvements implemented swiftly,” May concluded, “by being open to all-party input on aspects of these proposals and putting aside partisan jockeying in favour of doing what needs to be done for deserving Canadian workers.”

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Contact Information:
Debra Eindiguer
Press Secretary
C: 613.240.8921
media@greenparty.ca
www.greenparty.ca