Statement made on 04 February 2009 by Senator Lorna Milne (retired)
Hon. Lorna Milne:
Honourable senators, unfortunately, when Human Resources Minister Diane Finley recently said that this Conservative government has no interest in increasing Employment Insurance payments to make it lucrative for workers to sit around the house, she was echoing what the Prime Minister said when he visited the Maritimes. He said: "There is a dependence in the region that breeds a culture of defeatism."
What answer would the Leader of the Government in the Senate give to the mother in my own city of Brampton who lost her job after the company for which she had worked 22 years closed its doors? This mother wrote:
I thought — when I was let go and the company was closing its doors — I would be able to apply for EI. I have just learned the wait period is for two weeks and then there is a massive backlog of another three weeks. Now, almost four weeks later, I am without pay and I really do not know where to turn. I actually do not know where I will be able to buy the next carton of milk for my baby.
What answer does Senator LeBreton's government have for that mother and her baby? I can assure honourable senators that this mother is not feeling the lucrative effects of EI and she is not sitting around the house.
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