Under pressure to cut the federal deficit, Martin effectively gutted the newly renamed employment insurance system by making it more difficult, and in many cases near-impossible, for the jobless to qualify for benefits.
But he didn't cut by a corresponding amount the premiums that most workers and their bosses are required to pay into the program.
In effect, a program designed to protect workers from vicious downturns in the business cycle was transformed into just another tax, and a particularly regressive tax at that (lower-income workers pay proportionally more in employment insurance premiums than those who make more money)...
(T)hose who do not qualify for employment insurance do not qualify for retraining programs offered under the aegis of the federal program. In this sense, jobless Torontonians get hit twice over.
Seeing as that at least two of the opposition parties have made EI a pet issue for a few years now, this would seem to be the right to to make some basic changes. Even if the hours requirements don't change, it should only make sense to make training programs available to all those out of work.
While an ideal set of changes would include not only making training universally available but also increasing EI accessibility and cutting the EI burden on lower-paid employees, I won't pretend the full slate of changes can compete with the political appeal of handing out money with no rhyme or reason. But it's time to start putting a few pieces back in place to start rebuilding the system, and training should be the ideal place to start.
(Edit: typo.)
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