Here is a true story I’ve encountered in The Thyee: in the beginning of 2008, Alf Wilkins, a mill worker from Mackenzie, British Columbia, was laid off. Soon afterwards, as the global recession tightened its grip on the Canadian economy, the same misfortune befell his daughter, son and brother, with only his wife bringing in the pay checks. Having worked and dutifully paid his taxes for over 31 years, Mr. Wilkins thought he had earned enough unemployment benefits to see him through the crisis until he resumed his job. What was his surprise then when he was made to wait 12 weeks before he could start receiving unemployment relief because, as he puts it, ‘I had first to spend any holiday pays I’ve accumulated so far’. Ultimately, he was given the employment insurance he had earned with years of hard work, but it did not last for long. In January 2009, his EI claim expired, and since then, he received no governmental support whatsoever, even though he’s been out of job and encumbered by a mortgage and the needs of his family.
An unbelievable story, isn’t it? No. For we all know people in our community or are ourselves stuck in a similar situation, which befits much more a poverty-ridden third-world country than 21st century Canada. The truth is that at present, we are witnessing a social relief system, which is in a sorry mess of unprecedented proportions, one that aggravates rather than alleviates the plight of the people it’s been established to help. And the blame for this falls squarely on the head of the government, which has failed to intervene with expedient reforms proportionate to the current economic conditions.
A brief research over the internet reveals that since the 1990s reforms in the employment insurance system, it has accumulated more than $55 billion from the taxes of employees and employers (The Tyee). Such a sum would be much more than enough to help the unemployed through the economic crisis, except for the fact that it is no longer available. For rather than remaining set aside for unemployment benefits, the money taxpayers have been pouring into the EI system is transferred into general revenues, and there it disappears from common sight.
This is grave news for the two million unemployed who filed EI claims in 2009 alone. Given the somnolent rate at which the economy is recovering, the prospects for these people in 2010 remain bleak. In fact, according to a recent paper authored by Andrew Jackson, national director of economic policy for the Canadian Labour Congress, a quarter of these people will see their claims expire in the course of this year, and they will have to join the hopeless ranks of the 777,400 registered work-eligible adults, who have been laid off, yet do not receive unemployment benefits (Canadian Center for Policy Alternative).
Despite these figures, however, the Canadian government has obstinately refused to rectify the EI system, turning a deaf ear to the numerous outcries voiced from all social strata. Instead, its representatives have come out making statements which hardly support its self-designed image of a ‘loving parent’. For example, Niels Veldhuis, a pro-government writer on economics, recently claimed that the numbers presented by people like Jackson are grossly exaggerated and opined. The richer unemployment benefits demanded by government opponents would present a ‘moral hazard’ for the nation, turning the unemployed into sloths satisfied by their unworked-for income and unwilling to seek new jobs (Fraser Institute).
But where does all this leave common people like Alf Wilkins, who are forced to scrape for their daily bread? ‘It really drives me mad,’ sighs Wilkins, his sallow face sunken deep in his skull, ‘I have never expected such indifference by the government. Those guys up there who rule the country, they made me abandon any hope for the future’.
Comments on this entry are closed.