Third resolution debated at Panel 1 on Friday afternoon at the NDP 2013 Convention:
1-53-13 Resolution on Employment Insurance
Submitted by Acadie-Bathurst
WHEREAS seasonal industries comprise a dynamic, essential part of Canada’s identity and economy;
WHEREAS Canadian workers and their employers make EI contributions and are the owners of the
program;
BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP move to restore the integrity of Canada’s EI program by amending the
Employment Insurance Act to include the following measures:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conservative government must hire adequate staff to administer
Service Canada programs efficiently and substantially reduce wait times.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the government should change the Working While on Claim regulation
so that EI claimants are not dissuaded from working during their benefit period.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP lobby the government to overturn the devastating changes
made to the EI program which limit access and lower benefits, resulting in lower wages and restricted
access and increasingly pushing vulnerable Canadians into poverty and transferring the costs to the
provinces.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP lobby the government to reinstate the Extended Employment
Insurance Benefits Pilot Project (5 additional weeks) to offset the “black hole” of financial insecurity faced
by seasonal workers and the regional economies they support.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP lobby the government to restore access to the board of
referees and the umpire so that all Canadians have access to a fair and equitable appeal system, as was
the case prior to the devastating changes made to the Employment Insurance program.
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Debate began at 1656 ET.
Yvon Godin, Acadie-Bathurst, speaks to this motion. He is in favour.
Now a delegate saying this resolution does not go far enough. Says it does not protect older workers. “Some of these motions are not well thought out.”
Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles MP Anne-Marie Day also speaking to this motion.
MOTION PASSES —