OTTAWA – The Conservative government is focused on what matters to Canadians, helping out those hit hardest by this global economic recession and our economic recovery. To such ends, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development announced that our government will introduce new measures to further support long-tenured workers.
 
This week, the 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.
 
“By providing additional weeks of EI to unemployed Canadians who have worked hard and paid EI premiums for years we are helping them transition back to work. This is the fair and right thing to do. It will make a significant difference in the lives of Canadians and their families, particularly in the great Kenora riding,” stated Rickford.
 
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.
 
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. Our focus is on helping people get back to work.
 
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.