Federal New Democrats want complete overhaul of EI system

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/08/bc-ndp-ei-benefits.html

The federal NDP has stated that the Conservative government should lower qualification standards to receive employment insurance benefits. Alex Atamanenko, B.C Southern Interior MP, has received complaint from unemployed citizens who are not able to access employment insurance benefits. As well, statistics show that about 60-70% of people who are currently unemployed are not eligible for benefits in the current system. Although the government as allocated billions of dollars to the employment insurance fund, the government has increased the standards eligibility, making it harder for citizens to collect the benefits they have paid for when they were employed. The federal New Democrats said that the numbers collected by Statistics Canada show that only 43% of unemployed Canadians and 39% of unemployed women qualify for employment benefits under the current regulation. The federal NDP has asked the government to eliminate the waiting period for employment insurance, decrease the works hours needed to quality and finally to expand eligibility to self-employed workers.

  As the rate of unemployment increases, the level of spending in Canada is significantly reduced. As the income of other individuals are decreased, a multiplier affect in created. In order to ease the overall spending decline, individuals may receive some money so that their spending is not significantly reduced. However, many workers who are currently unemployed are not eligible for insurance benefits. In fact, as mentioned earlier, only 49% of unemployed workers are eligible under the current standards. As a result, the negative consequences of unemployment on the economy are greatly increased. The government must work to expand eligibility of employment insurance benefits so that the consumer spending will not significantly decrease.

  There are many negative effects to the economy if the level of spending in Canada is greatly reduced. However, as the unemployment rates in Canada are relatively high compared to other years, the government may not have enough money to spend in employment insurance benefits. If the majority of workers who have lost their jobs do not receive employment insurance benefits, their reduced spending will indirectly effect the income of working family members.