Here in Ottawa, were I to lose my job, I would have to prove that I was employed at a job that paid into the system for 700 hours, or about 4 ½ months of full-time work. If I could do that and show that I was not fired for taking money out of the till, I would be eligible for 41 weeks of EI benefits equating 55% of my “best 12 weeks” of work; it’s not lucrative, but I could get just over $400 per week. Now if I lived in rural Newfoundland, I would only need 420 hours of work (just over 10 weeks of full-time work) and would be eligible for up to 50 weeks of benefit payments.
The reason for the difference in qualifications is that unemployment rates vary, in Ottawa where help wanted signs are still posted on the side of the road, the unemployment rate is 5% while in rural Newfoundland the unemployment rate is 20.4%. One would assume it is easier to find a job in Ottawa that in Goose Bay and so the system adjusts each month based on local conditions.
What the opposition parties and the assorted commentators are calling for is EI to be enriched and expanded with what is called a national standard. Instead of different qualifications, the idea is that all Canadians will be eligible for EI after 360 hours of work, or 9 weeks of full time employment. In a vote on an opposition motion in the House of Commons in March, the Liberals, Bloc and NDP also supported getting rid of the two-week waiting period, allowing the self-employed to participate in the EI plan and expanding payments from 55% of your best work weeks to 60%.
What this would do in essence is give some Canadians 52 weeks of EI payments for 9 weeks of work. Someone who worked during July and August could get EI payments until the end of the next summer.
Indiana Homez: “BTW, in the nineties many NFLDer’s I worked with often joked that: Newfies that weren’t bums moved to Alberta; so, I find your objection interesting. EI must be the Newfie version of the “N” word.”
Actually, “Newfie” is our version of the “N-word.” Thanks for that. Pay more attention to what you just said – they joked about it. I.e. you should be smarter than to take it at face value.
Yukon Gold: The fact is, you can qualify for EI on less hours there than anywhere else in country. Nobody forces Newfoundlanders to stay in Newfoundland, yet the EI system rewards them for doing so. If you take a seasonal job, you know that it is seasonal. It is not acceptable to sit on your butt all winter when that job is gone. If there are no jobs in your community, go to one where there is.
Of course you can qualify earlier, because it needs to be that way otherwise people would starve/lose their house/be unable to take care of their kids/etc., etc., etc.. Use your common sense – for a middle aged man and his family to pick up their whole lives and move requires a significant financial investment (home prices in St. John’s are not cheap) and is a serious disruption to all their lives. You’re asking kids to go to completely new schools and lose all their old friends. You’re asking spouses to abandon old jobs to look for uncertain new employment (but I forgot, we’re all unemployed welfare bums?) In other words, talk is cheap, Yukon – it’s easier said than done. Likewise, I have to laugh at the “Nobody forces Newfoundlanders to stay in Newfoundland” comment – as if this province was some sort of hole in the wall that needed escaping?
I might be understandably ‘touchy,’ but at least I’m not laughably arrogant.
You’re asking kids to go to completely new schools and lose all their old friends.
Posted by: Dante at May 6, 2009 7:45 PM
Oh the humanity!
Just watch now how the Union stooges in Ontario become employable for exactly 9 weeks every year…..
Slightly related:
My new employer (7mo) told us two weeks ago that we’d be seeing some layoffs.
Some job cuts … some work hour cuts … some EI subsidized.
Three days a week of work and get paid for four thanks to EI… Sounds good to me I thought … pictures of 4 day weekends and golf every Monday and Friday running through my head. Would have lasted all summer for sure I thought!
Then my manager comes to talk to me about the situation …. Not for you OMMAG he says. You must work while others frolic …. The story of my LIFE!
Now we learn it might have been nearly permanent!
Maybe time to get back to self employment.
If ‘EI’ is truly an insurance and not a tax, then why can’t I opt out? In addition, those people who have had jobs for many many years without receiving benefits should pay a lower premium.
One quick point: If you’re tired of paying into this scam, er, scheme, there is an easy way: work for yourself. Business people don’t need to pay EI premiums. Haven’t paid into this for 25 years.
Iggy’s ‘reforms’ are just a return to the Trudeau utopia of the 10/42, even worse. It will guarantee abuse.
If I were to reform EI, here’s what I would do:
1. Make contributions voluntary. Just like fire or disability insurance. Return EI it to its original purpose, protection against unexpected loss of employment.
2. All premiums paid by employee (else #1 becomes moot).
3. You can collect up to half the number of weeks you worked in the last 2 years. If you worked 2 solid years you can collect up to 52 weeks. If you worked for 10 weeks you get 5. This will help older workers who got laid off, for whom finding the next job may be difficult and/or require some training.
4. No pilfering of funds by government shall be allowed.
A parasite can feed off it’s host for a long time. But if too many parasites attach to the same host, eventually the host dies.
That’s how life works… always has.
Ok, it’s late and I’m feeling my age so this will be a ‘preaching to the choir’ comment.
Why would ANYONE need EI? That’s ‘Employment Insurance’. Even taken in the most strict context, the program does not ensure you will be employed.
Now UI is something I can relate to. Remember UI? The thing that speaketh the politically incorrect?
No one needs to be insured against employment but it is nice to be insured if you’re unemployed.
All of the above is moot when you consider that Canada is king among G8 ‘unfunded liabilities’. Good luck getting cash from a badly broken system…
That’s right Dante:”What about the children?”
“Actually, “Newfie” is our version of the “N-word.””
I’m sure blacks in the US feel a kinship with Newfoundlanders because of their shared experiences of oppression and slavery; or, perhaps that kinship is born of both communities dependence on government money.
So Dante, I was picked up and moved to new schools twice in my youth due to my father’s job. I left my home and my family members for work on several occaisions even working overseas and in small towns throughout rural and northern Canada. I was forced to pay taxes despite all that.
As compensation for all my hardship can I expect a cheque from the government of Newfoundland?
I worked in Sydney NS for 3 years.
EI was a ongoing private joke amoung the locals.
Fishermen are able to collect EI after the season is over. Sometime quotas etc. would make the season as short as 4-5 weeks.
In Glace Bay it was no problem to set up the following;
Give the fishing boat operator $5000.00 in cash.
He would then put you on his payroll for the 5 week season.
Without ever stepping on the boat, you would receive your “stamps”, ie paperwork showing the employment.
The boat owner would ‘pay’ you, but actually keep the money himself.
After the season, the paperwork he supplied would allow the purchaser to recieve EI benefits for the next year. These benefits would total up to as much as $20,000 over the 12 months.
Since the cod moratorium, these fishers have the laxest EI requirments on the planet.
Cape Breton has hundreds more registered fishing boats now, than existed before the moritorium.
The island is a Liberal NDP sanctuary. The only Conservatives ever elected are generally a little left of Stalin.
DrD: And from the sound of it, you didn’t enjoy it – thanks for agreeing with me?
Homez: Version of the N-Word – read carefully or you look silly. We can say it, you can’t – now where does that sound familiar?
DrD: And from the sound of it, you didn’t enjoy it – thanks for agreeing with me?
Homez: Version of the N-Word – read carefully or you look silly. We can say it, you can’t – now where does that sound familiar?
Dante, I guess you “sound” a little silly considering you are not looking at me at all.
I’ve just been busting your chops, as I’m sure you’re doing. Bygones
Oh yeah, get a real job:)_
The discrimination in EI is real … don’t kid your selves. I’ve worked in Oil Sand development for 15 years and find myself suddenly un-employed and I am no where near alone. My skills and most of my colleagues skills are specialized enough that until this recovers or we go back to school we can’t work in another industry. Most of my friends were “contracts” but paid into the system for years and cannot now collect. Those of us that can collect get 41 weeks coverage. 15 years of paying in … 41 weeks then what… whereas NFLD 9 weeks work = 52 weeks coverage … give your head a shake. Who kept this economy going for the last 10 years, it wasn’t NFLD and it wasn’t the auto sector.
Summer in Calgary going to be an eyeopener this year. We didn’t cause this mess, but we’re going to pay for it more than most. And ask yourself what the government re-training programs are … oil sands development jobs … that’s gonna work for those of us the are eligible for “re-training”. Life is Good …NOT!!!
Homez:Always in a good spirit of debate.
By the way, I’m training to be a doctor. You get a real job. 😀
The rules for EI are in effect for all areas in the country with high unemployment. Parts of Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are also eligible for the same EI benefits as PARTS of NL are. But it’s easier to direct your hate,vitriol and mean-spiritness to just the one province, isn’t it. ***K You. If you can’t get your facts straight and in order, and present them honestly, you’re no better than the MSM that you delight in vivisecting on a regular basis.
Alex at May 8, 2009 2:02 PM;
You seem very upset at the direction of the complaint.
I don’t see any retort as to it’s actual validity.
Doolweb,
The caption that leads in makes reference to NL, does it not? The facts are that the EI rules apply to all areas of high unemployment, no matter what part of Canada it occurs in, but the derogatory tone was directed specifically at people in NL. Some parts of this province have a rate of 5% or less, some 20+. There are more people on EI in Toronto than will ever be in this province. Want me to explain it again? Perhaps with pictures and really big letters and smaller words?
Again,
F*** You and your ilk and your condescending attitude