It is difficult to understand exactly how much thought Ottawa put into improving employment insurance benefits for some – but not all – Albertans in last week’s federal budget. In case Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government don’t get it, all of Alberta is oil country. And all of oil country, whether here or in Saskatchewan is hurting, despite what some minor regional differences may suggest.
The Edmonton region, including St. Albert, didn’t quite meet the two-per-cent change in unemployment rates to qualify for changes to EI that would have extended benefits by five weeks and shortened the time before benefits are received to one week.
But Suzan Krecsy, executive director of the St. Albert Food Bank, sees the dramatic effects of the economic slump due to low oil prices every day. People who were her donors a year or two ago, are now her clients. Food bank usage was up 51 per cent in February compared with the month year ago. Krecsy says her volunteers helped 200 families or 608 individuals of which 267 were children.
“That’s a record I never want to break again,” she told the Gazette last week. Her comment is also a reflection of just how bad things are.
The capital region’s overall employment figures may be somewhat buoyed by health-care and government jobs, in addition to continuing projects in the Industrial Heartland. But with no new major oilpatch projects coming on stream, the question is how long that will last. Some observers don’t expect many of those jobs to continue into the summer. Let’s hope Ottawa’s plans take that into account.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of Albertans benefiting from EI payments in January jumped 91 per cent compared to a year earlier. That amounts to 63,770 people – almost the same number as every man, woman and child in St. Albert. Edmonton had 21,240 people on EI in January, an increase of 81.7 per cent from a year earlier. StatsCan reported that 21,100 people were on EI in Calgary in January, up almost 98 per cent from a year earlier. You don’t need to be a statistician to see the economic pain is nearly the same for a huge group of people.
Premier Rachel Notley responded to the capital region’s exclusion by saying her government “will be working very hard with our federal counterparts to make sure everyone has fair access.” This is a tepid response at best. We agree with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall who says the policy makes no sense at all, since it essentially excludes the northern half of his energy-producing province.
Yet Liberal cabinet minister Kent Hehr, from Calgary, believes the right balance has been struck by providing help to the 12 most needy regions in the country. In his mind, and presumably the federal government’s, the Edmonton area does not need the help. Or is it that the Trudeau government’s priorities lie elsewhere and certainly not with the natural resources industry?
Too bad they did not talk to the people who are looking for jobs or to those who run our food banks. Those people might ask about the balance Ottawa is talking about.
