HUMA Committee Report

CPC – Supplementary Report

The Conservative Party of Canada supports common sense reform to the Employment Insurance (EI) system to better support workers, self-employed individuals, small businesses, and all employers.

EI premiums must always remain affordable for workers and employers. Conservatives categorically reject mandatory EI premiums for self-employed entrepreneurs and other small businesses. Many businesses have taken on significant debt to weather the pandemic period and cannot afford the thousands of dollars in increased costs that mandatory EI premiums for self-employed individuals would impose.  

It is concerning that the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion during her testimony for this report would not rule out job-killing mandatory EI premiums for self-employed individuals.  

EI Modernization not a priority for Liberals

The introduction of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) as an income replacement program, separate from EI, in March 2020 is a direct result of the Liberal government’s failure to keep their 2015 election promise to modernize the EI system.  In April 2020, the Minister of Employment made a calculated decision to authorize the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada to make $500 million in payments to ineligible CERB applicants. Some applicants received duplicate payments in error, others misrepresented their employment status and intentionally committed fraud.  

Normal practice within the departments is to implement pre-payment controls for programs of this magnitude. Pre-payment controls are necessary to prevent fraud. However, at the direction of this Liberal government, the CERB payment system was forced to forgo this important fraud prevention control requirement in the name of expediency. This trade off is a consequence of their failure to deliver on their commitment to modernize the computer system. The failure to modernize the EI system by the Liberals put hundreds of millions of dollars in the pockets of people who are not eligible. This is unacceptable and disrespectful to taxpayers.  

In response to a performance audit of the CERB program by the Auditor General of Canada, a senior departmental official categorized the $500 million in ineligible payments as, “a known design criterion,” that, “wasn’t an error.”  The official went on to say that when the benefit was launched, the government and Minister of Employment knew, “it was not possible, in the time that we had, to have real-time reconciliation between the two systems.”  

A Conservative government would prioritize EI modernization to restore accountability and respect for taxpayer dollars. We would ensure that these critical benefits are paid quickly to Canadians and not to people who are not eligible.  

Increase the EI Sickness Benefit

Conservatives agree with other Committee members that the 15-week EI Sickness Benefit must be enhanced to better serve Canadians. Conservatives support the calls of organizations such as the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec and 15 Semaines to increase the EI Sickness Benefit to 52 weeks. This critical change would better support Canadians as they fight and recover from serious illnesses such as cancer and medical complications from COVID-19.  The Liberal proposal to establish a 26-week sickness benefit by summer of 2022 is inadequate and would exclude tens of thousands of Canadians who have already exhausted the existing 15-week benefit.   

Recommendation: That Employment and Social Development Canada, in consultation with employee and employer groups, expand the maximum duration of Employment Insurance sickness benefits to 52 weeks in order to ensure that workers have sufficient time to fully recover before returning to work.

Denial of EI Maternity Benefits by Liberals Penalizes Women

The majority report reaffirms that the economic consequences of the pandemic are having a disproportionate impact on women. Shamefully, from the outset of the pandemic, expectant mothers and new parents have been left to fall through the cracks of the Liberal Government’s COVID-19 response. Conservatives have been demanding action from the government to address critical issues such as long-term unemployment and discriminatory policies that prevent pregnant women from claiming EI maternity and parental benefits.  

Women are facing longer periods of unemployment due to lockdowns and stay-at-home orders affecting women-dominated industries like food service, retail and personal service or any other field that is not conducive to remote work.  

Pregnant women, currently on EI regular benefits and unable to work, lack the required EI insurable hours to qualify for their full EI maternity and parental leave benefits because of a lack of EI insurable hours, and may be forced back to work within weeks of giving birth. Their families were counting on their maternity benefits to support them as they care for newborns at home. Now, through no fault of their own, pregnant women dealing with reduced financial support are being forced to return to a decimated job market months earlier than expected. Many expectant mothers are looking for jobs outside their fields in order to earn the hundreds of EI insurable hours required to submit a new EI claim for maternity benefits. 

It is a national shame that these women, despite paying into the EI system for years, are now ineligible for maternity benefits and forced to cut short precious time with their newborns to return to work so they can provide for their growing families. 

The time mothers have with their newborns is special. That is why Conservatives are calling on the Liberal government to immediately allow pregnant women and new mothers currently on EI to receive their full maternity leave benefits regardless of the number of insurable hours worked. 

Recommendation: The time mothers have with their newborns is special. Employment and Social Development Canada must immediately allow pregnant women and new mothers currently on EI regular benefits to receive their full maternity and parental leave benefits, regardless of the number of insurable hours worked as a temporary measure during the pandemic.