If one was to do the math, one would find that many EI claimants are going to be hurt by the new "working while on a claim" pilot project 18. The ones most affected are persons who are only able to obtain a day or two of work a week.

Sure, some will be helped, but those persons are the ones who can pick up enough work to match or exceed their weekly benfit rate.

For many in business, the work flow through the week varies. Having an available pool of part time workers to come in during peak hours, weekends, etc is extremely important.

The new pilot project will have definite negative effects. It's too bad the media doesn't do more than just publish a press release with the usual spin that only puts a positive light on things and ignores the negative.

"EI changes are billed as an attempt to drive overall economic growth by matching unemployed Canadians with employers trying to fill vacant jobs... temporary jobs"

There will be little incentive for employers to create permanent jobs with benefits under this scheme.

It just seems that the government will be subsidizing those employers who have the worst jobs to fill. Decreasing the incentive for them to make better paying full time jobs. Of course for some on EI this could make a big difference in being able to hang on to their life while unemployed. Then again the 74 million could just pay 740 people a wage of 50K for two years. Those people could spend that money into the economy and create some jobs. Maybe just don't lay off 740 government employees and have them continue to spread the tax money out into the economy while working for us?

The Tories are in favour of Slave Labour. how very wonderful.

The party that creates the poicies that in turn create unemployment, now want those who have paid their own money into a federal insurance program, to work for free, for the exclusive benefit of the private sector, for an insurance program they have already paid for?

Blaming the unemplioyed for being unemployed is the lowest and most disengious dogma of all the neo-liberal tenets. It is dispicable due to it's lack of empircal basis and for actively punishing those who are already at the lowest fo the low in society.

Pathetic !

There is a labour shortage in the trades sector in this country- plumbers, electricians etc. EI should be paying recipients to go to school and learn these trades, not encouraging them to take low paying minimum wage jobs. That is a waste of time and will likely result in frustration for recipients, who may get fed up with their jobs and quit. Then they lose all their EI benefits and end up applying for welfare. EI needs to provide financial incentives for recipients as soon as they apply for benefits, to retrain in professions where there is a demand, plain and simple.

Instead of encouraging Canadians to accept part-time employment, when is Ottawa going to get serious about the creation of full-time jobs. Here are some facts:

-There are from six to ten unemployed workers for every job vacancy in Canada.

-There were no EI-funded job creation programs announced in the last budget.

-Only four out of ten unemployed workers can access EI anyway.

-There used to be $57 billion in the EI fund. In 2010, the government raided it of all but $2 billion. The fund is currently running at a deficit. Finance Wizard Flaherty is responsible for that.

-When figures are corrected for population growth, the jobs market has recovered only 20% of the jobs lost in the economic crisis of 2008-09. JOB CREATION is what Canadians need, and we need it today.

-Canadian corporations were sitting on $859 billion in cash assets in the fourth quarter of 2011. These are the guys who have seen their tax rate slashed from 38% to 15% since 1980, representing $46 billion less per year that lands in public coffers. Compare to the budget cuts that will drop our nation to its knees: $5.2 billion. FOLLOW THE MONEY.

-The corporate tax rate today is 24% below the rate in the US, and 8% less than the world average. If the cuts authorized by the Conservative government alone were uncut, the $12 billion per year coming in would go a long way toward job creation. UNCUT THE CUTS.

Bribed with our own money.....He's looking for votes.

Increasing EI benefits, but in a way that encourages people to work more, and thus likely to get them back to full-time employment faster.

What's not to like? Seems very sound to me.

What the story doesn't mention, is that if you work 40 or more hours, you get nothing from EI.You must work less than 40 hours to qualify.Once you hit the magical 40 hour mark you get cut off.

I don't know about you guys, but I, for one, can't wait until these Conservative/Reformer Members of Parliament have to draw on EI after the next election....

"""The EI changes are billed as an attempt to drive overall economic growth by matching unemployed Canadians with employers trying to fill vacant jobs.""""

the ""billing"" seems empty rhetoric -----those on EI most likely do not have the skills that the employers need -----if they did employers would have no difficulty finding people to fill the spots .

if they do you certainly do not need changes to EI payments to match the workers with the job vacancy --especially when the government says canadians want to work