Tired of waiting, the Bloc Québécois introduces employment insurance reform

Tired of waiting for the overhaul promised since 2015, the Bloc Québécois tabled a bill on Tuesday to improve accessibility to employment insurance and correct certain irritants.

“The system, currently, by its various criteria, is unfair, or discriminatory against certain workers. And that’s what we essentially want to correct with the bill,” confided Louise Chabot, Bloc MP and spokesperson for labor-related issues, in an interview.

“The Bloc acts where the Liberal government failed. » She proposes what she describes as “robust modifications to the Employment Insurance Act », which are “in response to the inertia of the government, to laxity”.

A reform was promised in 2015, then reiterated in 2019 and 2021. But only pilot projects were adopted or adjustments made to the regime, recently deplored two organizations dedicated to defending the rights of the unemployed: the Autonomous and Solidarity Movement of unemployed (MASSE) and the Unemployment Action Movement of Montreal.

The problems of accessibility to employment insurance have been denounced for several years. Union organizations have already pointed out that only 40% of unemployed people qualify to receive employment insurance benefits.

“It’s really about accessibility issues. Let us talk about illness, let us talk about the number of hours to qualify. There are all these issues which mean that today, the system does not protect workers in the event of a worse situation, namely job loss,” summarized Mr.^me Chabot, who is herself a former president of a union center, the CSQ.

M^me Chabot clarified, during a press conference Tuesday in Ottawa, that it is offering a single rate of 420 hours or 12 weeks to access benefits.

Two problems were particularly raised in the news: that of workers in seasonal industries and that of workers on maternity leave whose employment is abolished following a company restructuring.

Many workers in seasonal industries fall into what is called the “black hole.” This is the period during which Employment Insurance benefits have been exhausted, but work has not yet resumed.

The case of workers on maternity leave who lose their jobs following a company restructuring even ended up before the court. And the file is not closed. These workers do not have access to regular employment insurance benefits because they have not accumulated enough insurable hours of work, since they were on maternity leave when their position was abolished.

“Our proposal aims precisely to find out where the parties will stand on this major issue of employment insurance. They will have to commit,” launched M^me Chabot.

“Will the conservatives, who aspire to power, take up the cause and launch and commit to reforming the regime? Will the current government, which is on the edge of the door, which had promised since 2015 to reform the regime and which has never done so, take the measure and decide that it can reform the regime? I think this is a proposal where the bill will come to fruition,” concluded the Bloc MP.