February 10, 1995 For Immediate Release
LIBERAL'S OWN REPORT SAYS UI PROGRAM KEEPING THOUSANDS UNEMPLOYED
"Big government programs are actually the root of the problem," says Breitkreuz
Ottawa - In Question Period yesterday, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, asked the Minister of Human Resources Development(HRD) why he has chosen to ignore a report prepared by his own department over one year ago. The report examined over a dozen existing studies which concluded that the changes made to the Unemployment Insurance Act in 1971-72 resulted in "an increase in the unemployment rate in the range of 1 to 1.5 percentage points." The report also comments that there are two unpublished papers that have produced estimates that show that the UI rate is as much as 3.5 percentage points higher than it should be. Using the range of estimates provided in the government report, it means that instead of a current unemployment rate of 9.7% it should be somewhere between 9.2% and 6.2%.
Breitkreuz said, "The UI program is so poorly designed that somewhere between 64,000 and 448,000 workers are unemployed because of it. Lloyd Axworthy's own department admits the UI program causes unemployment. He has had over a year to do something and has done nothing. When will we get some action?" a frustrated Breitkreuz asked the Minister. Axworthy was visibly flustered by the question, fumbled it and as usual didn't answer it.
Breitkreuz continued his assault, "Canadian taxpayers are sick of people who abuse our social programs, but are even more sick of politicians who do not do anything about it. The Minister is bent on making his programs bigger and as a result seems incapable of making them better. He can't seem to realize that the program itself is a big part of the problem. Will the Minister finally admit that big government programs are actually the root of the problem?" asked Breitkreuz. As he has done on many other occasions, Mr. Axworthy attacked the Reform MP as if the Reform Party was the governing party, and once again failed to answer the question. "It seems like this is becoming a Liberal tradition," commented Breitkreuz.
"If the Liberal government's inaction on reform of the Unemployment Insurance program is any indication, Reform will be the governing party before Canadians see any positive changes," predicted Breitkreuz.
For a copy of the HRD Report please call:
Ottawa: - (613) 992-4394