On September 14, our Conservative government gave notice that we intend to introduce legislation to help long-tenured workers who have lost their jobs because of the global economic downturn, by temporarily providing 5 to 20 additional weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits to these workers, depending on how long they have been working and paying EI premiums. This will come as welcome news for many in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex who as a result of the recession find themselves on Employment Insurance through no fault of their own.

This new measure is designed to provide additional support to workers who have paid EI premiums for years and made limited use of the program, while they look for jobs in a recovering economy.

It is a temporary measure, which builds on those we introduced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

Under the Career Transition Assistance initiative, the Economic Action Plan also provides assistance to long-tenured workers who need training to transition to a new industry or occupation.

Through our Economic Action Plan, we have also implemented measures to support all unemployed Canadians. These measures include providing nationally five extra weeks of EI regular benefits, increasing the maximum duration of benefits from 45 to 50 weeks in regions of high unemployment, and protecting jobs through the Work-Sharing program—and we are freezing EI premiums for 2010 at the same rate as 2009.

Our focus is on helping people get back to work, and to that end, we are also providing an additional $1.5 billion towards skills training to be delivered by the provinces and territories.

These measures demonstrate that our government is making responsible choices to support Canadians now. We are responding quickly with time-limited measures to meet current needs.

We believe that extending EI benefits for long-tenured workers is the right thing to do and that it is both fair and responsible. It will help Canadians who have worked hard and paid EI premiums for many years and who now find themselves in need of a hand up. This measure should also go a long way towards bridging long-tenured workers to give them time to find alternative employment, particularly as the labour market improves.

Should you have any questions regarding this new initiative, please give me a call or drop me a line.
Patrick L Davis, Chief of Staff
Bev Shipley's Office
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex
(519) 627-4899
1-800-585-2640
Cell (519) 784-0669
FAX (519) 627-4635
Email - [email protected]

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