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House Hansard - 174

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 28, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 174 - Mar/28/23
Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)
  • Mar/28/23 4:34:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the things in the budget worth commending. They are very familiar items to those of us in the NDP caucus who have been calling for affordability measures such as another doubling of the GST rebate; a Canada-wide dental insurance plan, which is now on the way; real and meaningful labour conditions around federal investments in clean tech to ensure that it is not just companies but workers who would actually benefit from the investments we have to make to launch ourselves into the new energy economy; and meaningful investments for indigenous people living in urban, rural and northern communities who are struggling, as many Canadians are, with the housing market. However, I have to say the budget also rightly includes warnings of a coming recession, warnings that we are hearing from private sector economists as well. We know that when a recession hits and unemployment goes up, the program that Canadians depend upon to pay the bills is employment insurance. In fact, the employment insurance system was so bad, it had to be completely overhauled during the pandemic because it could not get the job done. In September of last year, the government let those temporary measures drop. The Liberals have been promising EI modernization for the entire seven, or eight, depending on who one talks to, years they have been in government. They have not delivered. Why is it that, as Canada looks down the barrel of a recession, the government is missing in action on employment insurance reform?
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