The Federal NDP is demanding change to the country’s Employment Insurance plan, calling it “broken.”
The party wants the minimum eligibility dropped to 360 hours, reverse Harper’s reforms, and barricade the fund so the government can’t access it.
Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says the NDP also wants an account barricade so Ottawa can’t touch it.
“It doesn’t work right now for people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, ” he says, “and it’s not the governments money. We remind them time and again, this is money paid into by workers and their employers. It has nothing to do with Ottawa they’re just simply meant to hold it.”
To help the Northwest specifically, he believes Ottawa needs to isolate the area. He says the government currently groups the riding in with the oil and gas sector, which exaggerates local employment numbers.
Of all Canadians contributing to the account, Cullen says only a third are actually eligible for EI.
Parliament will vote on the motion early next week.