Extended EI Benefits More Favorable For Workers In Western Canada

September 18, 2009 6:54 a.m. EST

Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - The planned addition of a few more weeks to Employment Insurance benefits would be of help to only few unemployed Canadians, according to the Canadian Labor Congress.

The primary beneficiaries of the temporary extension of unemployment insurance payments would be resource workers in western Canada who had been long-tenured employees laid off within the period Jan. 1 to Sept. 11, 2009.

However, the bulk of those affected by the recession and the global financial crisis - mainly workers in the car, manufacturing and forestry sectors who were laid off in 2008 or earlier - are not qualified for the extra EI benefits, the CLC pointed out.

CLC president Ken Georgetti said in a statement: "The government's proposed changes will help a group of mostly older workers and we're pleased about that. But all of the unemployed need better access to the EI system, no matter where they live and work in Canada, and they need better benefits."

Reforms in the EI has been a hot issue in Ottawa. The Liberals even planned to use it to force a no confidence vote as the Parliament reopens. However, the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party have offered support to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party, changing the political equation in the House of Commons.

With new coalitions forming in the Canadian Parliament, there is an expected rush to pass legislation to amend the EI law to help determine the outcome of a no confidence vote the Liberals are still bent on pushing despite the recent changes in political alliances in Ottawa.

Bills to revise the EI are seen as the NDP's cards in extracting concessions from the Tories in exchange for the New Democrats' short-term support for the Conservatives.