United opposition parties press for EI reforms

Opposition parties were united on Monday in their call for changes to the employment insurance system, with the Liberals demanding reforms before Parliament's summer break.

The issue dominated question period as Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs challenged the Conservative government to lower the amount of employment hours needed to qualify for benefits.

"There are key issues that need to be fixed: access, benefit levels, maternity leave, fairness across regions and the status of the self-employed," said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

He called on the government to present "concrete proposals for reform" before Parliament rises in June for its summer break.

Ignatieff suggested Sunday that EI reforms could be the issue that triggers another federal election.

He said there is a patchwork of entrance requirements across the country and asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to commit to a national standard of 360 hours as a threshold for collecting benefits.

NDP Leader Jack Layton and BQ Leader Gilles Duceppe also called for the elimination of the two-week benefit waiting period and for self-employed workers to have access to benefits.

Layton also demanded the Tories adopt the more wide-ranging EI reforms contained in a motion recently passed by the House of Commons.

EI system 'generous': PM

Harper said the recent federal budget made improvements to the system, including an extra five weeks of benefits for recipients.

"Canada has a very generous system of employment insurance that was, in fact, enhanced in the most recent economic action plan of this government," he said.

Harper said the Liberals have latched onto the issue of EI reform in order to create a diversion from the "re-affirmation … of the carbon tax."

Liberal delegates at the Vancouver convention endorsed motions that left room for a carbon tax, a deeply unpopular plank of the last Liberal election campaign.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley also defended the EI system, saying it is working for Canadians suffering during the recession.

Finley pointed to the Kitchener area as an example. With an unemployment rate in the area up to 9.5 per cent from 5.4 per cent, unemployed people can now access EI four weeks sooner and receive 13 more weeks of benefits, she said.

Finley said in March the government planned to hire hundreds of people and spend millions to help process the growing number of EI claims.