Social Programs

More young people in Atlantic Canada dropped off the employment insurance (EI) rolls thanks to the federal government's “tightening” of the program's rules in the 1990s, according to a Halifax-based think-tank. As a result, fewer young Atlantic Canadians are choosing seasonal work in the construction, mining, fishing and forestry sectors. Increasing numbers are moving into long-term employment in the managerial, natural sciences and education sectors. And many are staying in high school or going on to post-secondary institutions.

Far from being an economic backwater, Atlantic Canada especially in the urban areas, is on a roll. The unemployment rate in Halifax is lower than Edmonton's. Virtually all the urban areas of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and mainland Nova Scotia are behaving like normal economies. But rural Atlantic Canada is still mired in too much EI and too much government interference says Peter Fenwick, AIMS Communication Director. When un-informed members of the political parties call maritimers "lazy", they do so with badly outdated information. Publication: HDN, September 15, 2000.

Attempts by politicians to restore Employment Insurance to highly paid seasonal workers should be resisted says Peter Fenwick, AIMS Director of Communications. As the parties gear up for the coming election some MPs are demanding that the reforms of four years ago be repealed. One of the most significant reforms was the clawback, a provision that effectively took away much of the employment insurance highly paid seasonal workers. Part of that deal in 1996 gave significantly higher benefits to lowly paid EI recipients. It was part of a restructuring that made the whole system much more equitable. Publication: ETSJ, September 9, 2000.